Courtesy of The Automatic Earth.
Detroit Publishing Co. “Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge” 1907
There’s a lot more to the Ukraine situation than meets the eye. The country was already on the verge of bankruptcy before the protests started three months ago, and seems dead set on default now. Russia seemed willing to help, but the protests against Yanukovych are protests against Putin too. Moreover, Russian banks have substantial holdings of Ukrainian bonds.
Then, there’s of course the energy question. Ukraine relies on Russian gas and oil. It’s also where Russia’s pipelines for Europe are located:
One thing is obvious from this map: Russia and Ukraine have a very tight relationship whether they want it or not. And Putin may not like the EU trying to improve its ties with Ukraine, but if your man in Kiev’s a guy who has elite snipers shoot his country’s young men straight through the heart by the dozen, you may need to rethink your position. Because Putin can’t send in his troops to Kiev anymore, those days are gone.
I can’t really work again yet, too sick still, zero energy, but I’ll give you a series of quotes from various news sources today that make what goes on in and with Ukraine much clearer:
