Ukraine and Russia reach gas 'consensus'

[joshcryer]

9. The EU agreement neutered the corrupt oligarchs.

Therefore anyone who was against the EU agreement is objectively for the corrupt oligarchs, particularly as it pertained to the financial industry and the agricultural industry.

What should have happened is that there should have been a trilateral agreement, EU financial standards and agriculture standards be accepted, Russia's gas pricing be accepted, and Ukraine gets let off the hook for any pipeline "losses" since the pipelines are Russia's pipelines and Russia should be enforcing the transport of its stuff, not forcing Ukrainians to suffer because oligarchs are stealing.

Except that's not how Russia operates, as you said "anyone pulling Putin's whiskers is going to come with a high price." That's what Russia has been doing with the gas disputes going all the way back to 2005.

If Ukraine is beholden to anyone it is Russia, and it will be a painful process to get out from under those chains. The funny part is that it appears that you realize this because you can't help but end your replies with how powerful of a position Putin is in.