Another victory for Vladimir Putin, another defeat for the West. That is how the outcome of the battle for Ukraine, the country between Russia and the European Union, is being portrayed in Moscow and in many Western capitals. On December 17th, after a meeting between Mr Putin and Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's president, Russia agreed to lend Ukraine $15 billion and to slash the gas price from $400 to $268 per thousand cubic metres, as a reward for Mr Yanuko-vych's ditching of an association agreement with the eu. Unsurprisingly, the mix of money and political cover for theft and violence proved more enticing to Mr Yanukovych than the eu offer of the rule of law, free trade, competition and reform.
展开▼
