Putin’s Power Game

Despite Russian troops have crossed the Ukrainian borders, President Vladimir Putin continues denying any involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine and defining the pro-Russian unrest as a local uprising. However, Western countries and the Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenk’s thought about the Russian incursions into eastern Ukraine have become even clearer when an image showing the Russian troops moving within the Ukrainian territory was released by the NATO.
The enigmatic Russian president, who seems to be insensible to resolve the crisis in the south-eastern embattled regions of Ukraine, held a meeting with Ukrainian president Poroshenko in Minsk on the 26th of August.
During the meeting, Mr Putin didn’t use any nationalist tones, which instead characterized his annexation of Crimea. He mainly focused on economic matters, principally those related to the gas issue, rather than on the truce conditions with the rebels, defining the argument as “a domestic matter of Ukraine”. In fact, after having assured his commitment to do everything to support the peace process, provided that Ukraine starts the dialogue with the separatist groups, the President insisted on the impact of the signing on behalf of Ukraine with theEU Association Agreement, within the context of its cooperation with the Customs Union states. As he released in an interview after the meeting, the implementation of such an agreement carries significant risks for the Russian economy. In particular, Mr Putin highlighted that, as the agreement shall impose Ukraine new technical regulations and phytosanitary standards not corresponding with the Russian ones, Russia would not be able to supply its goods to Ukraine at all.
Needless to say, the President expressed the economic nature of his priorities in defining the relations with Ukraine, and he quote: “If we do not achieve any agreements and our concerns are not taken into account, then we will be forced to take measures to protect our economy”. Mean while, Ukrainian economy is in tatters and, as winter is coming, Ukraine needs 5 billion cubic metres of gas to get through it. This shall stand for a strong weapon on Russia part, who could use it to influence the situation. The Ukrainian revolution of February 2014 that led to the downfall of the former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovich, ruined Putin’s plans to have Ukraine as a member of the Eurasian Customs Union, the European Union-type economic alliance created between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, and caused instead a strengthening of ties between Ukraine and the EU. Since then, the conflict has escalating, further destabilizing the situation in Ukraine.
Has Putin moved his economic interests to the Asian region, with the signature of a 400 billion dollars gas supply deal between Russia’s Gazprom and the China National petroleum Corporation, or is he still interested in the strategic Ukraine’s territory?