When Russian President Vladimir Putin decided March 1, 2014 to invade Crimea, President Barack Obama saw it as an act of war against the West. Newly minted Western democracies like Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania convulsed, fearing an imminent Russian takeover. Instead of understanding Putin’s reasons, Obama joined the European Union mob led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Holland to implement punitive economic sanctions against the Kremlin. Russia didn’t insist on punitive economic sanctions when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan Oct. 7, 2001 or Iraq March 20, 2003. Annexing Crimea only brought collective punishment on Moscow for reacting to CIA-backed coup Feb. 22, 2014 while Putin sat helplessly by hosting the Sochi Winter Olympics. Putin showed great patience when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and Iraq.
All the excuses for the pro-Western coup centered on Kremlin-backed President Viktor Yanukovich, lived like a king while Ukrainians lived on potatoes. Pro-Western forces had all the glitz-and-glamour, led by loudmouth former heavyweight champion boxer Vitali Klitschko, eventually becoming the Kiev mayor. When the dust settled, Ukraine’s power-elite settled on 51-year-old billionaire chocolate baron Petro Poroshenko, promising to end Ukraine’s corruption and unify the country. When it became apparent that Petroshenko wasn’t liked in Ukraine’s pro-Russian Donbass region of Southeastern Ukraine, the pro-Western revolution fizzled. Instead of accepting the complexities in Ukraine, Obama refused to deal with Putin unless he pulled out of Crimea. Ukraine’s 35-year-old activist Nadiya Savchenko announced she’s starting an opposition movement against Poroshenko.
Bringing the Feb. 22, 2014 pro-Western revolution full circle, Savchenko wants to end Ukraine’s corruption. “This is meant to . . . create a real change in the system,” said Savchenko, making a fool out of Obama and his EU colleagues. Calling her movement RUNA—for Movement of Ukraine’s Active People, Savchenko wants to create a new political party to run against Poroshenko. Former Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvilli, a former governor of the Odessa region, also seeks to end Poroshenko’s government. When you consider the mess in Ukraine, it’s no wonder the Donabass regions hopes to one day return to Russian control. Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko once insisted that Yanukovich caused the revolution by insisting Ukraine would stay tied to Russia, not seek EU membership. With all the EU’s problems, they’d run from any Ukraine membership.
Today’s political chaos speaks volumes about the phony grounds for Feb. 22, 2014 revolution, citing Yanukovich’s close ties to Moscow. With Savchenko and Saakashvilli looking to replace Poroshenko, it’s no wonder Ukraine remains under a dark cloud. What’s most disturbing is not Ukraine’s political chaos but Obama’s knee-jerk response to blame everything on Putin. Putin’s no more in charge of happenings in Kiev than he was in Washington, though blamed thoroughly for Democratic nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s election loss. President-elect Donald Trump at least doesn’t blame all U.S. ills on Putin, seeking instead to reset U.S.-Russian relations. With all the internal chaos in Ukraine, it’s easy to see how pro-Russian breakaway Peoples Republic of Donetsk President Alexander Zakharchenko wants no part of the Kiev government.
When you consider how Obama rejected Russian overtures since the March 1, 2014 takeover of Crimea, it’s driven U.S.-Russian relations to the lowest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Savchenko, who spent at least two years in Russian prison, was forced out of her role in Orange Revolution-famed former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s populist political party. Whether Savchenko or Saakashvilli, both command no real popular support, only joined by the desire to rid Poroshenko from Kiev. Whatever Poroshenko’s misgivings, he’s by far the most popular of all potential Ukrainian leaders. Instead of mending fences with Putin, Poroshenko spends his time playing up his ties to the West. If Poroshenko has problems with Zakharchenko, he needs to show more sensitivity to pro-Russian areas that seek autonomy from Kiev, possibly independence.
Savchenko’s rise to at least the headlines in Kiev sends a bitter pill to Obama for blaming Putin for all Ukraine’s problems. Savchenko and Saakashvilli’s prominence in anti-Poroshenko circles proves, beyond any doubt, that Ukraine has its own problems independent of Putin’s March 1, 2014 takeover of Crimea. Instead of jointing the EU mob against Putin, Obama should have shown the wisdom to see the big picture with Putin. U.S.-Russian relations is far too important for world stability to pit U.S. foreign policy against Moscow for any one thing. Obama’s failed Syrian policy backing terrorists to topple Bashar-al-Assad also put a wedge between the U.S. and Russia. With only three weeks left in his term, Barack would be better off exiting the world stage than making more bad decisions. Driving U.S.-Russian relations to new lows, it’s time for Obama to not cause more damage.
