[detective]

“Mr. Putin’s threat of invading Ukraine makes Ms. Tymoshenko the only national leader with the authority and capability to forge an agreement with Russia. Having made a string of the appropriate patriotic statements, Ms. Tymoshenko has already announced her readiness to talk to Mr. Putin “for Ukraine’s sake.” She is likely to return triumphant, having “stopped” the invasion of the “Russian horde,” and even with some Russian financial aid.”

The author is obviously an employee or agent of Ms. Tymoshenko. That is the whole purpose of the article, to her make her seem like a credible leader.

I am not an expert on the Ukraine but my understanding is that she failed miserably and has little if any support. Perhaps this is why Putin wants her in control. He wants her as a weak puppet that he can easily control.

[goldstategop]

Her support comes from the nationalist western half of the country. But she can reach out to the Russophone east and she is the only credible political figure who can win a nationwide election. The rest of the field are purely sectoral candidates.

Putin likes her personally and there is trust between them and both sides need good relations whether they like it or not. Ukraine’s destiny is bound to Russia’s and there are millions of ethnic Ukrainians in Russia just as there are millions of ethnic Russians in Ukraine and many have family on both sides of the divide.