As the two months of street demonstrations escalate in Kiev and spread throughout Ukraine, the anti-government forces’s chances of unseating unpopular president, Viktor Yanukovich, grow. A victory of the loose alliance of pro-Western and nationalist forces in Ukraine would be Vladimir Putin’s first defeat after successfully running circles around Europe and the United States for years.
Putin had counted on Russian bailout funds and low gas prices to deflate Yanukovich’s street opposition. That did not work, but worse for Putin, the Ukrainian crisis is coming to a boil as his Sochi moment approaches. He must be on his best behavior through the February Olympic games – not a good time for Putin to deploy his strong arm tricks on behalf of Yanukovich.
go to forbes.com
Kissinger: Russia … without Ukraine is an Eastern power. Will Putin lose Ukraine on his (KGB) watch? If so, then this will become the second greatest grief for him after the loss of the USSR). On the other hand, any asset (money, gas, etc) he devotes to this adventure is a loss if he does not win. So, he may exceedingly take more risks. On ewonders, if he would go far enough to try to pull off a Georgian incursion variety as he did in 2008?
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