Ukraine scraps NATO accession plans

[FarCenter]

The Ukrainian president has dissolved the commission which was to work towards NATO membership. It's the latest move to abandon the pro-western stance of the 'Orange Revolution' and re-establish ties with Russia.

Since the election of Viktor Yanukovych in February, Ukraine has made no secret of its intention to abandon its goal of joining NATO. Now, Yanukovych has by decree dissolved the commission that was to lay the groundwork for membership.

The move hardly comes as a surprise - it's the final step in Ukraine's process of abandoning the pro-western ambitions of the 'Orange Revolution' that once swept Yanukovych out of power.

Now, as he's back at the helm, Yanukovych said the current level of cooperation with NATO was "sufficient." Yet the move will nonetheless strain the relations with the alliance.

"It's quite a sharp statement," Natalia Bugayova of the Kyiv Post newspaper told Deutsche Welle.

"Dissolving the commission which was to prepare Ukraine for joining NATO is quite a radical move and I think it will certainly exacerbate the relationship with the West."

<SNIP>http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5434301,00.html

[bridgit]

1. Good for them, seems it was offered as a thumb in Russia's eye anyway

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Good? Hard to see that

Assuming the elections stay honest, the pendulum will swing back. It was a large mandate and Ukrainians in the end will never truly trust Russia. Given the history, I can see why.

[bridgit]

3. I would view it as a counter offer to an on going negotiation - Ukraine is close enough...

to experience less than creative activity in & around Chechnya, and with 'heat' involved in the region by way of western insensitivities toward Islamic tenets & resources both; if I were Ukraine I'd be bending the ears on some of my cards too

'Oil and minerals account for 70 percent of Russia's foreign exchange earnings. The earnings include revenue from oil transfers through Chechen pipelines. If oil-rich-and-pipeline-carrying Chechnya is cut off from the federation, Russia will not be able to arm-twist neighbouring Ukraine, a pro-West country that depends on Russian oil. Russia regularly uses gas supplies that go through Chechnya as a weapon to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and the European Union. Moscow has also hinted at a military invasion if Ukraine joins NATO.

Besides the oil weapon, Russia also maintains its Black Sea Fleet at Ukraine's Sevastopol base — a facility Ukraine was forced to grant to Russia. As a result, there is no love lost between the two countries. During the 2008 Georgia war, Russia accused Ukraine of supplying weapons to Tbilisi and ever since relations remained strained.'

Moscow suspects Ukraine and Georgia with help from the United States and Britain fuel the rebellion in Chechnya.

In September last year Chechen leader Kadyrov, whom the rebels ridicule as Kafir-ov, meaning one who rejects God, told Reuters he had good reason to believe that the US and Britain were covertly aiding the Chechen rebels.

"We are fighting US and British special services in the mountains," he said and named a slain rebel leader identified as Rizvan Chitigov as a CIA agent.

"The West is interested in separating the Caucasus from Russia. The Caucasus is a strategic frontier of Russia. Taking the Caucasus away from Russia will mean taking half of the country away from Russia. Now they are sending groups of foreigners to us. We are fighting US and British special services in the mountains."

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