“...Were they honestly interested in democracy there was no reason for the people now in power not to defuse the situation in Kiev over the past few months and just wait for the already scheduled elections rather than egging on the mob....”
Putin has no intention of defusing his mob. I believe that you have the dog and the dog’s tail confused.
The people now in charge defused their mob? Putin put the Madian crowd in the streets of Kiev and put people in power now instead of waiting on elections?
I know who the dog is and who started the tail wagging. The dog is named "Brussels", and the wagging tail is people who couldn't win an election getting into power with the help of the EU. That's why the fumble butts in Kiev call off operations in the East, then several days later when the EU says they better use the Army to get control of the East the Kiev crowd sends the Army east instantly.
Putin is taking advantage of a situation the people now in power in Ukraine caused. Is he a nice guy or doing anything other than taking advantage of the mess? No, why the Hell would he? He had a completely legal deal in his pocket signed and ratified in a completely legal way according to Ukrainian law and the EU preferred to 'go to the streets" the same way they did in Libya and Egypt.
In Libya it worked out, almost, but in Egypt it didn't. The EU figured the Ukraine not having a military that would confront whoever they put in power was a major factor in their favor and now they're having to deal with reality instead of their own fantasy land theories. Funny, egotistical jerks in Brussels can't see the forest for the trees, they couldn't look at the situation realistically and didn't try to. Of course, the same people can't see that Muzzies flooding Europe is destroying Europe from the inside (or can they?).
When the EU and their supporters changed games, Putin switched to the same game instead of just going in a corner to sulk over the good deal that got away. Anyone who thought he would do otherwise was living in a fantasy world and obviously the pro-EU crowd now in power and their EU backers were living in that fantasy world. They're losing at the game they chose and started.
The people in the "interim government" could have avoided every bit of this by waiting on the alread scheduled elections. They preferred the mob and power now instead of waiting on the already scheduled elections so, let them live with the consequences of their own actions. If a mob can put their people in power nationally now instead of waiting on elections, why can't people in a city or county put their people in power now instead of waiting for elections?
The EU offered a package that had limited benefit to the Ukraine, a lot of austerity dictates for the Ukraine, and a lot of benefits for the EU. Russia offered a deal that had one Hell of a lot of benefits for the Ukraine and not much more than the status quo for Russia. The EU didn't say, "I see your offer and raise you", they said, "we don't want to play anymore, we know how our people in power now without waiting on those silly elections".
No, Putin has no intention of defusing his mob. Whichever game the EU/US want to play he'll play and now the EU/US started the mob rule game and they're losing that one just like they lost at the poker game of deals to the Ukraine. The Ukraine has known Russia was on their border ever since they became an independent country but they've cut their military to the point it's a bad joke compared to their real requirements in part for fear of the Army intervening in the corrupt politics that have been the norm.
Let them deal with the consequences of their own actions, the corruption, the resorting to mob rule to avoid legitimate elections, and the lack of a reasonable military in light of their situation.