Moscow Times: Russia backs Ukraine, Not Kuchma
02/17/2001 | Broker
Friday, Feb. 16, 2001. Page 08
Russia Backs Ukraine, Not Kuchma
Editorial
Events in Kiev are taking an alarming direction, as public protests mount and beleaguered President Leonid Kuchma seems increasingly belligerent. On Wednesday, a local newspaper printed remarks by Kuchma that were little short of disturbing, showing how profoundly Soviet and anti-democratic his mindset really is.
"I consider that if this crisis is supported, especially from outside [Ukraine], it could lead to only one thing: the collapse of Ukraine," Kuchma is quoted as saying. Hinting that the dissatisfaction with his corrupt, ineffective government has no native basis and is the product of outside agitation is, of course, a well-worn denial mechanism. And one that is often invoked by governments justifying violence against their own people.
Kuchma seems unable to distinguish between a crisis that might spell the end of his political career and one that means "the collapse of Ukraine." Like many anti-democratic post-Soviet leaders (including, at times, former President Boris Yeltsin), Kuchma believes l'etat, c'est moi.
Such primitive political thinking has prevented most former Soviet countries from creating functioning democratic institutions, including governmental checks and balances and independent media. The lack of such institutions makes crises such as the one rocking Ukraine now or that which toppled Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in October all the more dangerous.
We are also dismayed by the role of President Vladimir Putin, who met with Kuchma in Dnipropetrovsk on Monday. Trying hard to pretend that the meeting was just business as usual, Putin stressed that the two leaders "did not discuss politics."
By doing so, Putin seems to be repeating the same embarrassing and unhelpful stance that he took regarding Milosevic. It seems to be the knee-jerk reaction of the Russian leadership to throw in its lot with any established leader rather than to use its influence as a regional power to facilitate an orderly and democratic settlement.
We'll never know what Putin and Kuchma discussed. However, by arresting opposition leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Julia Tymoshenko just one day after meeting Putin, Kuchma has — as many analysts predicted beforehand — embarrassed his Russian counterpart and fueled speculation that Putin somehow gave him the go-ahead for a crackdown. It is a situation that Putin could have — and should have — easily avoided.
Russia is seeking to define its role in the world and especially in the former Soviet Union. It is not too late to make that role one in which decent, democratically oriented Russian citizens can take pride.
Russia Backs Ukraine, Not Kuchma
Editorial
Events in Kiev are taking an alarming direction, as public protests mount and beleaguered President Leonid Kuchma seems increasingly belligerent. On Wednesday, a local newspaper printed remarks by Kuchma that were little short of disturbing, showing how profoundly Soviet and anti-democratic his mindset really is.
"I consider that if this crisis is supported, especially from outside [Ukraine], it could lead to only one thing: the collapse of Ukraine," Kuchma is quoted as saying. Hinting that the dissatisfaction with his corrupt, ineffective government has no native basis and is the product of outside agitation is, of course, a well-worn denial mechanism. And one that is often invoked by governments justifying violence against their own people.
Kuchma seems unable to distinguish between a crisis that might spell the end of his political career and one that means "the collapse of Ukraine." Like many anti-democratic post-Soviet leaders (including, at times, former President Boris Yeltsin), Kuchma believes l'etat, c'est moi.
Such primitive political thinking has prevented most former Soviet countries from creating functioning democratic institutions, including governmental checks and balances and independent media. The lack of such institutions makes crises such as the one rocking Ukraine now or that which toppled Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in October all the more dangerous.
We are also dismayed by the role of President Vladimir Putin, who met with Kuchma in Dnipropetrovsk on Monday. Trying hard to pretend that the meeting was just business as usual, Putin stressed that the two leaders "did not discuss politics."
By doing so, Putin seems to be repeating the same embarrassing and unhelpful stance that he took regarding Milosevic. It seems to be the knee-jerk reaction of the Russian leadership to throw in its lot with any established leader rather than to use its influence as a regional power to facilitate an orderly and democratic settlement.
We'll never know what Putin and Kuchma discussed. However, by arresting opposition leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Julia Tymoshenko just one day after meeting Putin, Kuchma has — as many analysts predicted beforehand — embarrassed his Russian counterpart and fueled speculation that Putin somehow gave him the go-ahead for a crackdown. It is a situation that Putin could have — and should have — easily avoided.
Russia is seeking to define its role in the world and especially in the former Soviet Union. It is not too late to make that role one in which decent, democratically oriented Russian citizens can take pride.