# How will the Ukrainian election crisis be resolved? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 24, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-the-ukrainian-election-crisis-be-resolved/276539 "2004-11-24T22:09:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-the-ukrainian-election-crisis-be-resolved/276539/41 "2004-12-28T09:55:45Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, they had the do-over election on Sunday and it looks like Yushchenko won in a landslide – but it still ain’t over! Now **Yanukovych** is disputing the results and vowing to take it to the Supreme Court! [http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5432292](http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5432292) > > Assuming Yushchenko does manage to take office: > > 1. Will the Ukrainian Republic hold together? Are we going to hear more secession talk from Crimea and the eastern provinces? Absolutely. That’s going to be a tricky issue. > [@](#): > > 1. Will Ukraine really start turning westward? It has been doing that already, that’s why Yushschenko won in the first place. > [@](#): > > 1. How will this affect Ukrainian-Russian relations? It’s going to be tricky, but it’s not like Russia has uncomplicated relations with any of the other ‘lost territories’. > [@](#): > > 1. How, if at all, will this affect internal politics in Russian and Belarus? Will their peoples start getting ideas about having an Orange Revolution of their own? Each situation is unique. Ukraine has been developing westward in many ways, obviously especially in the West, and can afford to take that road. I’m not sure Belarus is in that position, I think they depend much more on Russia. > [@](#): > > 1. How will this affect U.S.-Russian relations? This is a conflict where we ranged up on clearly opposing sides for the first time since the Cold War ended. Can we get past that? Putin is a pragmatic. He’ll choose the path that suits him best. I’m starting to get disappointed in him though, he’s slipping - he was the right medicine for Russia but now he’s failing to let democracy grow and progress, and freedom of speech is going back to Sovjet levels. Disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-the-ukrainian-election-crisis-be-resolved/276539/42 "2004-12-29T06:03:03Z")
> [@Arwin](#): > > Each situation is unique. Ukraine has been developing westward in many ways, obviously especially in the West, and can afford to take that road. I’m not sure Belarus is in that position, I think they depend much more on Russia. But the important question is, will **Russia** start turning westward now? That is, will the Russian people start thinking that way, and subvert the plans of their leaders who want to form some Russian-centered alternative/rival to the European Union? ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-the-ukrainian-election-crisis-be-resolved/276539/43 "2004-12-29T10:18:23Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But the important question is, will **Russia** start turning westward now? That is, will the Russian people start thinking that way, and subvert the plans of their leaders who want to form some Russian-centered alternative/rival to the European Union? That is an important question, but I’m not sure if the Ukranian situation has a lot of impact on that. The only way I see that having an impact, is perhaps through the realisation that the EU is increasing as a political as well as economical force. The full impact of the introduction of the Euro is, I think, slowly starting to sink in. At least, it did in Ukrania, but I’m not yet sure about Moscow, it’s a different world. Heck, according to my colleague there, everyone uses ICQ in Russia. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-the-ukrainian-election-crisis-be-resolved/276539/44 "2004-12-29T12:38:26Z")
> [@Arwin](#): > > [Putin] was the right medicine for Russia but now he’s failing to let democracy grow and progress, and freedom of speech is going back to Sovjet levels. Disappointing. I think Russians want democracy but don’t trust democratic _leadership._ After Gorby, they’ve pretty much felt drawn to strongman leaders (look at the affection lavished on Gen. Lebed). They have, I would say, serious national “daddy issues.” ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-the-ukrainian-election-crisis-be-resolved/276539/45 "2004-12-31T20:49:59Z")
The latest from Yanukovych: [“You can’t fire me, I quit!”](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=3&u=/ap/20041231/ap_on_re_eu/ukraine_election) Hell of an eventful year, this 2004 was. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-the-ukrainian-election-crisis-be-resolved/276539/46 "2005-01-02T15:44:46Z")
Yanukovych has also lost the first round of his attempt to challenge the election results: [Ukrainian election commission rejects Yanukovych appeal](http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/12/30/ukraine-yanukovych-appeal041230.html). Next stop appears to be a challenge in the Supreme Court, but off-line news articles that I’ve read suggest that even the Yanukovych camp doesn’t see much hope there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-the-ukrainian-election-crisis-be-resolved/276539.md?page=2)