Pine wrote on 02/24/14 at 08:51:01:mpescatori;
I have been sick all (last).. I treid to follow this somewhat. I did hear ( forget the source) that Putin was being his normal self and insisting that the USA was already fueling this (Keiv) and that they better stay out of his backyard.
Any thoughts on what the USA may have done ( other than Obama saying "yall fight fair") and if you think we really are poking our dabnab noses in again?
I have a friend that was (now divorced) to a Romanian lady. They went over there (Romainia), and he came back with some pretty horrid tales of corruption. (Basically, the old habits of getting around communism, ie black markets) are just as effective at disrupting capitalism. Is this what is still hurting Ukraine?
Hi. Relax and forget all about the US having anything to blame for the Ukraine. The US would never do anyting of the sort... would it ?

It's the EU to blame. The Ukraine's liberals want to join the EU, not the US.

The Ukraine's nationalists want to stay as close as possible to Russia, not to the EU.
The point that liberals are ethnic Ukrainians and that nationalists are ethnic Russians, is irrelevant... of course...

To have an idea of how things are going, keep Crimea under scrutiny.
The "little people" (peasants, fishermen) may well be ethnic Ukrainians, but the skilled working class and the University/Military/Political Intellighentziya are all ethnic Russians.
Do not forget the Russian (formerly Soviet) Navy's home base is Sevastopol in the Crimea, it was one of the conditions for the former USSR to acknowledge independence to the Ukraine from "Motherland" Russia.
Russia is still hurting from losing the Ukraine, and is not happy to see it tie closer and closer bonds with the EU...
...much like a very conservative mother sees her oldest daughter wanting to move out and eventually eloping with someone Mother doesn't approve.
Check these sources and compare their perspectives and the tales they tell...
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article4015473.ecehttp://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-accuses-west-of-playing-geo...http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/ukraine-awaits-economic-impact...http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-geopolitical-implications-of-co...It's like playing chess on a minefield, your winning move may well see you blow up