Foreign Briefing

GLASGOW, Scotland -- The resurgent Russian bear, carefully manicuring its recently sharpened claws, will no doubt be taking more than a passing interest in Ukraine at the moment.


The last, battered remnants of Kiev's Orange revolution, and with it the government, have just been laid to rest, both swept into the grave by a torrent of venomous spite flowing between Ukraine's president and prime minister.

In many ways "spite" fails to do justice to the relationship between president Viktor Yushchenko and the prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko. The animosity between the two, who led Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, has been bubbling ever since they came to power, but recently it has boiled over.

During the Russia-Georgia conflict Mr Yushchenko labelled his prime minister a traitor for her failure to condemn Moscow's intervention.

Not to be outdone, last week Ms Tymoshenko savaged the president, saying that since 2004 he has "managed to destroy everything: faith in ideals of the revolution and faith in the president himself".

The vitriolic atmosphere between the two most important people in Ukraine has already contributed to the collapse of the coalition government.

Although it remains possible that Ms Tymoshenko could cobble together a new coalition, Ukraine is now in the midst of a political crisis that could have significant consequences not only for Ukrainians but also for both East and West.

Relations with Russia, already poor, have worsened over tensions stemming from disputes about the Russian navy's access to Ukraine's Black Sea ports in the Crimea, and analysts argue that Moscow might try to take advantage of Kiev's crisis and pressure Ukraine into adopting a more accommodating stance.

At the same time, the turmoil may well scupper any chance of Ukraine taking shelter under a comforting western wing. Kiev's continued infighting is damaging the moral and practical authority of its leaders, and undermining their credibility in western eyes.

And for Ukraine the maelstrom of political malice, internal and external pressures pulling the country both East and West at the same time have created an environment that is nothing but challenging.

Source: The Scotsman