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8 *58» Wednesday, March 12,2014
UKRAINE: Is war on the horizon?
Continued from Page 1
Photo illustration by Brandon Chorum The Clackamas Print
2. So what is everyone mad
about now?
In November 2013, President
Yanukovych suspended talks of
a trade deal with the European
Union in favor of reviving a
trade deal with Russia. According
to the Chicago Tribune, some
100,000 protesters gathered in
Kiev to demonstrate against the
ties to Russia. j
The President called for strict
.laws to contain the protesters.
Police used tear gas on the crowd
. and three protestors are killed by
live ammunition. Riots broke out
all over the capital and the death
toll rose as protestors clashed
with police. Yanukovych eventu
ally stepped down from his posi
tion and fled for Russia, mak
ing room for interim President
Oleksander Turchynov.
3. What role does Russia
play?
Russian President Vladimir
Putin held off action until the
conclusion of the Sochi games
but immediately followed up
by moving troops into Crimea
and taking control of strategic
points including their Black Sea
naval base. According to CNN,
Turchynov called the invasion
“an act of war” on his country.
Hite calls the invasion of
Crimea a “power play” by Putin
and says that having control of
the peninsula is an important
strategic and economic move.
Putin is pushing for a ballot for
Crimea to secede from Ukraine
and become close partners with
Russia.
It remains unknown how far
Putin wants to push for taking
control of Ukraine. For now,
Crimea remains his focus but
would provide a better oppor
tunity to move into mainland
Ukraine.
“It’s easier : to move into
Ukraine after going into
Crimea... every little piece
makes him stronger and more
powerful,” said Hite. “Putin is all
about money and power... He’s
creating an oligarchy.”
4. What about the rest of the
world?
All of the other G8 countries
(Canada, Germany, France, Italy,
Japan, The United Kingdom, and
United States) as well as the
European Union were displeased
with the Crimean invasion and
backed out of the scheduled G8
summit in Sochi later this year.
All proposed economic sanctions
but ultimately little has been done
to set back Putin’s invasion.
CNN
reports
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel told
President Barack Obama that
Putin has “lost contact with real
ity.” Putin and Obama spoke on
the phone for an hour on March 7,
but the Russian president claims
the two are “still far apart.”
5. Is war on the horizon?
While initially there was some
media speculation of potential
war, Hite says the notion is very
unlikely. /
“Russia probably won’t invade
Ukraine but will try to influence
their elections somehow,” said
Hite. “Germany is probably the
most significant outside player
to impose sanctions... but there
is really no chance at all of war.”
The world watches as new
developments sprout up from
Ukraine daily while the future of
the country remain unclear. The
following weeks and months will
be a significant indication of the
role the developing east will play
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