Running head: RUSSIA X UKRAINE 1
Russia x Ukraine
Yuri Passos
Lincoln Memorial University
RUSSIA X UKRAINE 2
Abstract
Keywords:
RUSSIA X UKRAINE 3
Table of Contents
Background…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4
Crimea………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….5
Importance of Crimea to Russia………………………………………………………………………………...5
The Political Crisis………………………………………………………………………………………………….……..6
The Protestants……………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….7
Orange Revolution…………………………………………………………………………………..………………8
Protests……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………….8
The Tigger of the Crisis………………………………………………………………………………………………….9
Sanctions……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………..10
Russian Response………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…16
Gas from Russia to EU……………………………………………………………………………………………..16
RUSSIA X UKRAINE 4
Background
During almost the entire 20th century, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, until its
independence in 1991. Since then, the country has started to look in another direction: from east
to west, from Russia to the European Union; following the examples like Poland, Slovakia and
Hungary – all members of the European Union (Iljin, 2014). However, Ukraine was unable to
complete this transition because of two contrary forces that paralyzed it. One such force was
internal between the two sides of the country. The younger generation, residing in the western
part of the country, was in favor of assimilation into the EU while the eastern side of the country
