The dynamic of the Ukraine

[UniverseSeven]

The Ukranian elections are being called into to question by the US (funny isn't it). It is clear that the US favored and backed the opposition canditate who was westward leaning. The encumbent who is Russian leaning and backed by Putin "won" the election. If the US succedes in reversing this election it will not bode well for US, Russia relations. Probably Putin will step up his open and clandestine support of Iran. It will further prove to Russia that the US has its sights set on domination of the Caspian region. Civil war is just one possibilty. Ukraine is a microcosm of the ongoing struggle between East and West.

P+E(AC)=E

Pro-Russia Ukraine region to hold emergency session on autonomy
www.spacewar.com/2004/041129165118.cdws7shx.html

[UniverseSeven]

Deadly dioxin used on Yushchenko

Tests have revealed that the chemical used to poison Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko was pure TCDD, the most harmful known dioxin.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4105035.stm

[UniverseSeven]

Yushchenko Certain Victor in Ukraine Election

Ukraine Yanukovych Plans to Appeal Presidential Election Result
Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said he would appeal his defeat in the presidential election in the country's courts, including the Supreme Court.

``This is my principal position,'' Yanukovych said at a news conference in Kiev, which was broadcast live by Ukraina television. He didn't say whether he plans to call on his supporters to gather on the streets to protest the outcome of the vote.

With 99.87 percent of the ballots from yesterday's vote counted, opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, who favors Ukraine's membership in the European Union, had 52.02 percent of the vote, compared with Yanukovych's 44.18 percent, the Central Election Committee said today. Yushchenko won in 17 of Ukraine's 27 regions, including Kiev, the capital, the committee said. The vote yesterday was a rerun of last month's election, which was marred by irregularities.

In the Nov. 21 second round of the presidential election, which was annulled by the Supreme Court on Dec. 3 because of vote fraud, exit polls put Yushchenko, 50, in the lead. Yanukovych, 53, was declared the winner by the Central Electoral Committee before that result was canceled.

Yanukovych said he ``doesn't trust'' Ukraine's Supreme Court after it ordered the revote on Dec. 3, saying the Nov. 21 vote was falsified and didn't reflect the people's will.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Halia Pavliva in Kiev at [e-mail].

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Peter Torday in London at [e-mail]

[UniverseSeven]

Gazprom rules out concessions in talks with Ukraine

www.chinaview.cn 2006-01-04 00:32:13

MOSCOW, Jan. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Russian gas giant Gazprom vowed on Tuesday to stick to its demand to more than quadruple the price of gas for Ukraine in new talks later in the day to resolve a grueling dispute that has led to a cutoff of Russian gas supply to Ukraine.

  A delegation of Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy arrived earlier in the Russian capital for new talks with Gazprom.

Gazprom is willing to reach an agreement with Ukraine on gas deliveries but will not make any more concessions, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said on the Echo of Moscow radio.

"We have a real opportunity for reaching agreement with Ukraine on a bilateral basis," he said.

Ukraine was buying Russian gas at 50 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic meters over the past year, but Gazprom has asked Ukraine to pay 230 dollars, saying the price hike was needed to conform to world gas price levels.

"We realize that Ukraine is living through a difficult period. It can only switch to the market-based relations gradually, but when a very lucrative proposal was sent to Ukraine on Dec. 31, the answer was 'No,'" Kupriyanov said.

Gazprom has said Ukraine turned down an offer late Saturday by President Vladimir Putin, who approved a three-month freeze on the gas price if Ukraine accepted a price hike starting in the second quarter.

Kupriyanov said an international audit company Gazprom invited confirmed Ukraine's unsanctioned tapping of gas intended for European clients since a cutback of gas supply to Ukraine on Sunday but Gazprom would refrain from making the records public for the time being.

About 80 percent of the gas the European Union buys from Gazprom is sent through pipelines that cross Ukraine.

Earlier, the spokesman said Ukraine illegally tapped 104.8 million cubic meters of Russian export gas on Sunday and 118.7 million cubic meters on Monday. Enditem

news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-01/04/content_4004778.htm