Russia’s influence on Ukraine
- January 30th, 2014
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Ukraine is currently standing at a crossroads, it can return to overbearing Russian influence or it can align itself with the west. As of the past week, the Ukrainian government is aimed at returning to Russian influence. The current government under Viktor Yanukovych has recently signed a trade agreement with Russia and has passed legislation to restrict the freedom expression drastically. This is the latest example of Russia reigning in its former satellites. The Georgians were the previous victims of Moscow’s desire to keep its sphere of influence intact. In this case the west, not just the Obama administration, needs to send a clear message to Moscow and any other satellite countries that want to escape to the west. The west needs to be incredibly vocal of its support to the protesters and possibly levy sanctions against Ukraine’s government that would make dealing solely with Russia not worth the trouble.
Joshua Clarke