Russia Can Use Its Gas and Its Black Sea Fleet to Stop Ukraine from Joining NATO

Yesterday, President Viktor Yushchenko publicly called for Ukraine to “join NATO quickly,” apparently in response to the recent conflict in South Ossetia. This appeal reflects deepening concerns about how Ukraine should respond to the crisis, and there seems to be little agreement within Ukraine’s own political ranks on how to proceed. While the Ukrainian president has fixed his eyes on NATO, the prime minister has been reluctant to do so for fear of alienating pro-Russian voters.
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Russia Is on the Way to Repeating the Fate of some Latin American Countries

Following Russia’s somewhat excessive response to Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia, Dmitry Medvedev has no choice but to accept the de jure independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. But in reality, such an acceptance is not in Russia’s interests, as it will only further undermine foreign investor confidence and provoke retaliation from other geopolitical players—too high of a price to pay for a political statement.
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