There have been some reports that Yuschenko will make his first visit to Brussels to address the EU. This is reported as an intentional snub of Putin for his involvement with Yanukovych in the first elections.
And it has also been reported that Yuschenko will make his first visit to Moscow and then will fly from there to Brussels. This move would not be interpreted as a snub of Putin for his interference.
So which one will it be? West or north? (Moscow is north of here.)
I think it will be north. Yuschenko said it earlier and I think he meant it then and still means it. He has had a clear sense of what is at stake with relations between Russia and Ukraine throughout the elections; he is a realist in that. So I think he will go north first. There are very few reasons of any value to Ukraine not to.
I don't think there's anything to lose by making a gracious gesture, and plenty to gain. If he really wanted to annoy Russia he'd go to Georgia first...
ReplyDeleteNah, "Georgia" came to Kyiv in the form of Saakashvili and his wife and if the sight of S. speaking in Ukrainian on Maidan was not enough to get Putin's goat, they all went on vacation together, and created the Carpathian Declaration. If President Yushchenko, really wanted to tick off Putin, he could spend some time with the pensioners who are demonstrating in Moscow.
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