Ukraine crisis: Russia retaliates

Russia has dealt a severe blow to Ukraine by stopping gas supply to the hostile neighbouring nation. This has further complicated the Ukraine crisis. The development followed the failure of last-ditch talks hosted by Ukraine to end a dispute over debts.
The war of words between Moscow and Kiev has further escalated as the Western nations called Russia to stop browbeating Ukraine which is fighting a difficult separatist movement by the pro-Russian people in the eastern part of the country.
The situation has been aggravated by the actions of the separatists who took control of the central bank in their stronghold Donetsk. The Kiev government has no other option but to further intensify the operations to weed out these people.
This makes the confrontation between the separatists, who are backed by Moscow, and Kiev, which is actively supported by the West, even more severe.
The brief meeting that Russian president Vladimir Putin had with new Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko  on the sidelines of the Victory Day celebration in France recently had raised some hope for a cessation of hostilities in eastern Ukraine, but the latest development has dashed such hopes.
Russia has not recognised the new president of Ukraine although it had said before that the verdict of the May 25 elections in Ukraine would be honoured.
This has infuriated the Kiev government which accuses Moscow of unleashing a global propaganda not to recognise the recent polls that elected pro-West tycoon Petro Poroshenko as the new president of the country.
While this issue has come as a new contentious matter for the Kremlin and the West, the pro-Russian activists continue to defy the authority in several places in the eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine scenario took a serious turn following the annexation of Crimea, an autonomous region of Ukraine, by Russia. Moscow insists that Crimea was originally a part of it and the strategically important peninsula has only come back to its fold. The incorporation appears irreversible, but the new Ukraine president says that Crimea is an integral part of his country.
Earlier, a last-ditch effort among the parties who have great stakes in the Ukraine crisis failed as the pro-Russian separatists were hell-bent in carrying forward the "referendum" in several areas in eastern Ukraine for "independence" from the "Kiev" authority.
Despite suggestions by Russian president Vladimir Putin to postpone the "referendum", the "referendum" took place on May 11 and Moscow saw it as an endorsement of pro-Russian people for independence from Kiev.
The decision by these pro-Kremlin activists brought them on direct collision course with the Ukraine troops. Kiev said it would not allow another "Crimea" in its territory and that no separatist agitation would be allowed any more.
The West fully supported the Ukraine government. Clashes that occurred centring the "referendum" took lives on both sides, including troops of Ukraine.
Then came the May 25 presidential elections in Ukraine which was won by "chocolate King" - billionaire tycoon Poroshenko - who vowed to crush the pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukraine. Not unexpectedly, Moscow is opposing him although it earlier promised to honour  the verdict of the polls.
Russia has  warned Ukraine of "catastrophic consequences" unless it halted a military operation against the "pro-Moscow" gunmen in eastern Ukraine. On the other hand, the United States and its European allies have threatened Moscow with more sanctions and other forms of punishments if Russia continues its "designs" to destabilise Ukraine.
The situation has already taken a nosedive as Russian president Vladimir Putin says the Geneva accord among the US, Ukraine, EU and his country on certain matters relating to the crisis is "now dead".
Tensions and   hostilities continue to characterise the Ukraine scenario with the United States and the European Union (EU) stepping up pressure on Moscow over the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.
Tensions on the ground further spiked when  pro-Russian separatists clashed with the Ukraine troops and the rebels seized several towns in clear demonstration of the worsening condition in Ukraine.
Moscow seems to be in no mood to control its supporters in eastern Ukraine. The US and the EU have flatly rejected Moscow's views on the issue and slapped more sanctions to dissuade Russia from its further involvement in the unrest in Ukraine.
Moscow says that it has no plan to invade Ukraine, but the West is hardly assured by such protestations and continues to mount pressure on Russia through economic sanctions and other forms of restrictions. In a fresh round of sanctions, the US has named many officials and firms known as close to Russian president Putin while the EU also named many others, especially the high-ranking military officials.
The recent presence of President Putin in Crimea and his taking the salute at the military parade in the Moscow marking the defeat of Germany and "victory of Russia" in the Second World War only showed that Moscow is serious about asserting its authority despite stiff opposition from the West.
Much will now depend on how the new president of Ukraine deals with the pro-Russian separatists and the extent of support and assistance by the West to the Kiev government.
Evidently, the situation is getting increasingly complicated as Moscow seeks to assert influence like the former communist giant Soviet Union although present-day Russia is a democratic nation.
The Cold War-era condition of extreme hostility is now back centring the Ukraine crisis. The halting of the gas to Ukraine by Russia has added a dangerous element to the volatility of the crisis.
[email protected]