The Triangle of Ukraine, Russia and The West

Pifer breaks up the situation with Russia, Ukraine, and the West into different sections. He starts with the basic question of: why should we care? He discusses how Ukraine has been a good partner of the US and how Putin is breaking rules that should have consequences for a strong Western response. He then goes into the downfall of Ukraine with President Yanukovych because they didn’t join the EU, protests erupted, there was a sense of authoritarianism, and the Ukrainians were strongly against force and violence. When the president eventually fled, the new administrations raised questions of legitimacy. Now, the Ukrainian government is very fragile, and they are working towards a diffusion of power. There are intense economic challenges that they are working through with the IMF. There is a concern with managing the politics of the reforms that are to come. Finally, more issues are arising as Russia wants to destabilize Ukraine. Pifer then hits on the possible motivations of Putin and the response from the West which basically involve supporting Ukraine, punishing Russia, and reassuring NATO. Pifer emphasizes that this will be a long-term crisis and any type of solution needs to be sustainable in order to handle it.