Definitely a beneficial agreement for the Ukrainian people
Russia will invest $15 billion from one of its sovereign wealth funds in Ukrainian government securities and cut the price of natural gas it charges its neighbour by about a third, President Vladimir Putin said.
Economic relief for Ukraine ... Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych, left, react after signing an agreement in Moscow on Tuesday.
"Considering the problems of the Ukrainian economy linked to the world financial crisis, and to support the budget of the Ukrainian government, the Russian government decided to place part of its reserves from the National Wellbeing Fund in Ukrainian state securities," Putin said today during a joint briefing in Moscow with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Under an agreement signed between the chiefs of OAO Gazprom and Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz, the price of Russian gas will be cut to $268.5 per 1000 cubic metres from about $400, Putin said.Ukraine's leader sealed the agreements with Putin as his country is gripped by the biggest rallies in almost a decade after Yanukovych's decision to pull out of a trade agreement with the European Union. Ukraine is struggling with its third recession since 2008 and foreign-currency reserves at a seven-year low.The nation of 45 million is a key transit land for pipelines taking Russian gas to western Europe. Ukraine's membership in a Russian-led customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan wasn't discussed with Yanukovych, Putin said.The yield on Ukraine's 2014 dollar bond tumbled 369 basis points, or 3.69 percentage points, to 11.5 per cent, the lowest since October 18. Five-year credit-default swaps fell 27 basis points to 1043.35.Ukraine will issue a total of $15 billion of Eurobonds that Russia will buy, including a tranche that will be placed this year, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters in Moscow."Yanukovych has finally got what he wanted," said Vladimir Osakovskiy, the Moscow-based chief economist for Russia at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "Cheap gas, cash and no Customs Union commitments. I guess this takes EU association out of the table for now. This might give a boost to protests, but with no Customs Union membership this should be OK."
The initial reason/excuses for the protests were because of a desire to join the EU. Allegedly.At this time it seems more likely that the western backed protestors were going for an overthrow.If you missed an extremely thoughtful comment left by Arevordi, it is posted below
ArevordiDecember 15, 2013 at 8:51 AMGreetings Penny,Great job as always.There is one thing about Ukraine that I want to mention, as an addendum to your work here. I doing so, however, the last thing I want to do is come across pro-West or pro-EU. You know where I stand on this matters.Because of its history, Ukraine is essentially a deeply divided state with two relatively distinct nations living within one political body: the nation is more-or-less half west-leaning (primarily Ukrainian Orthodox, Catholic and Jewish) and half east-leaning (primarily Russian Orthodox) - if not by actual faith then by heritage. The western half of the country identifies more with Poles, Moldovans, and Slovaks than with Russians. Ukraine is also a nation that has had terrible troubles with Bolsheviks: Many millions dead during the infamous famine. There was also the harsh treatment of western Ukrainians by Stalin's Moscow during and in the aftermath of the Second World War due to their collaboration with Nazi Germany.As a result, hate for their Russian neighbors runs deep for many in the western half of the Ukraine. It is these people we are seeing protesting on the streets. I personally think their EU drive is rooted more in their hate for Russians than in their love for the EU.Unfortunately, within the mindsets of the Ukrainian sheeple today (as well as sheeple around the world), no differentiation is made between the Bolshevik regime and ethnic Russians. For hundreds of millions of people around the world: Bolshevism/communism = Russian. Therefore, for many in the Ukraine, ethnic Russians (Orthodox Christian Slavs) are the enemy - never mind that Bolshevism was imported into Russia to destroy the Russian Empire, never mind that Russian Slavs suffered just as terribly as Ukrainians. Moreover, Ukraine is a European country that physically shares a border with the European Union.The aforementioned sociopolitical factors are what Western powers are exploiting today in their geostrategic drive to expand NATO into historically recognized Russian territories via the multinational theme-park known as the European Union.Consequently, Ukraine has been diligently worked on by a very wide array of Western led and funded operatives, political activists, rights advocates, feminist movements, gay movements, NGOs, news press, etc, for two full two decades. The Jewish factor also looms large in the country.
Why is the Ukraine so important for the West?As Zbigniew Brzezinski pointed out, Russia is enormously more powerful with the territory of Ukraine within its fold and considerably weakened without it. In short, Western powers want to secure their Slavic buffer states (Poland and Ukraine) as a way of creating defensive depth against Russia, as well as a way of containing and/or weakening the Russian state - historically viewed by Western powers (in this case American, British, French and German) as their number one geopolitical competitor on the global stage.In a sense, this Western push into eastern Europe can be likened to a new "Operation Barbarossa", without all the guns.Nevertheless, the situation in the Ukraine is very serious. The country has turned into a volatile powder keg. I'm glad Kiev and Moscow have taken a step back in trying to defuse the situation.My main concern is that Western powers are attempting to foment large scale civil unrest within this deeply divided country. This runs the risk of a bloody and lengthy civil war, to which Moscow may respond to by annexing the strategic Crimea (which is actually a real contingency plan for the Kremlin). I personally want to see the Crimea going back to Russia but Moscow will do that only as a last resort (that is if Kiev is on the verge of a major split).Therefore, Kiev and Moscow need to be very careful with the way they are handling these protests. The best course for Ukrainian and Russian officials to take would be to do what they are doing now: take a step back and allow these protests to run their natural course, all the while keeping tight control over the situation and monitoring the country's Western funded NGOs, activists and news organizations. There should not be disproportionate use of violence against the protesters themselves. An overreaction by the authorities is what Western powers are actually hoping for.Anyway, the main point I want to leave you with is that Ukraine is a deeply divided nation that currently runs the risk of civil war and an eventual split. A split is not desirable. But if it happens, I want to see Russia annexing the Crimea.
Thank You Arevordi who keeps us all informed at Heralding the Rise of Russia-Geopolitics & moreOne last item. An interview that should have been here last week. But, better late then not at all.Progressive Radio News Hour – Rick Rozoff – 12/06/13 Rozoff is an activist, anti-war supporter, Stop NATO web site editor.He “document(s) and oppose(s) global militarist trends and an expanding theater of war that began” by balkanizing Yugoslavia in the 1990s.The Ukraine is discussed. Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed