HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: PUTIN LOST UKRAINE, SO HE DID ARMENIA
10:45 * 25.02.14
Below is the paper's editorial addressing the failure of the Russian
plans to create a Eurasian Union against the backdrops of the
Ukrainian crisis.
As early as in November, when Armenia and Ukraine declined to sign
an Association Agreement with the EU, the new USSR seemed to be an
accomplished fact. With the processes around Syria adding to all that,
there was an impression that no one could hamper its plans any more.
But what seemed inevitable two months ago seems impossible now,
in the light of the developments in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin lost
Ukraine, which means he also lost the strategic perspective linked
to the Eurasian Union.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is braced for a politically harsh
period. He is expected to answer very serious question: what to do
next? Is it worth to investing the entire potential in winning Ukraine
back? But it isn't as if the Party of Regions, which is Russia's main
stronghold, is overwhelmed, with no candidate of president or prime
minister from this wing seeming likely to become to be a serious rival
of the Maidan opposition. What about putting forth efforts towards
dividing Ukraine? But a divided Ukraine is not Ukraine any more. And
without Ukraine, a Eurasian Union cannot exist; likewise the European
Union could not have come into existence without Germany or France.
And the maximum the Customs Union can do is to develop into a union
like the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) - exhausted, sad
and unpromising.
The Russian president has also the second option: to admit the
accomplished facts and make maximum efforts towards establishing
friendly relations with Ukraine, leaving aside the ambitious Eurasian
plans and engaging himself in making the boundless Russia a state
with a modern economy and political system.
Such U-turns are, of course, very hard for influential figure like
Putin, but it seems obvious now that the Eurasian path is a key
to nowhere. The Sochi Olympics may serve its purpose if Russia's
understanding of Russia remains within [the country's] state borders.
Otherwise, Sochi could mark an epilogue, rather than a start.
Beautiful, impressive and gorgeous though it might be, it would be
an epilogue.
Armenian News - Tert.am
10:45 * 25.02.14
Below is the paper's editorial addressing the failure of the Russian
plans to create a Eurasian Union against the backdrops of the
Ukrainian crisis.
As early as in November, when Armenia and Ukraine declined to sign
an Association Agreement with the EU, the new USSR seemed to be an
accomplished fact. With the processes around Syria adding to all that,
there was an impression that no one could hamper its plans any more.
But what seemed inevitable two months ago seems impossible now,
in the light of the developments in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin lost
Ukraine, which means he also lost the strategic perspective linked
to the Eurasian Union.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is braced for a politically harsh
period. He is expected to answer very serious question: what to do
next? Is it worth to investing the entire potential in winning Ukraine
back? But it isn't as if the Party of Regions, which is Russia's main
stronghold, is overwhelmed, with no candidate of president or prime
minister from this wing seeming likely to become to be a serious rival
of the Maidan opposition. What about putting forth efforts towards
dividing Ukraine? But a divided Ukraine is not Ukraine any more. And
without Ukraine, a Eurasian Union cannot exist; likewise the European
Union could not have come into existence without Germany or France.
And the maximum the Customs Union can do is to develop into a union
like the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) - exhausted, sad
and unpromising.
The Russian president has also the second option: to admit the
accomplished facts and make maximum efforts towards establishing
friendly relations with Ukraine, leaving aside the ambitious Eurasian
plans and engaging himself in making the boundless Russia a state
with a modern economy and political system.
Such U-turns are, of course, very hard for influential figure like
Putin, but it seems obvious now that the Eurasian path is a key
to nowhere. The Sochi Olympics may serve its purpose if Russia's
understanding of Russia remains within [the country's] state borders.
Otherwise, Sochi could mark an epilogue, rather than a start.
Beautiful, impressive and gorgeous though it might be, it would be
an epilogue.
Armenian News - Tert.am