Throughout his time in office, Yushchenko repeatedly threatened to expel Russia's Black Sea Fleet from Sevastopol.
The Russian military lease there was scheduled to expire in 2017.
If a Yushenko protege took over (as was likely) what chance was there the lease would not be renewed?
Bigly.
The gas deal saved the lease that time,
but the access was always held hostage to the whim of the Uk government.
The government of a secession to Yank. would likely be the same as Yushenko
Given the instability of Uk's actions towards Sevastopol, it's logical for Putin to seize it.
There was also the Crimean referendum.
we forced all this to happen with our meddling in the Euromaiden -picking sides in their internal politics
you are like the only person in the world that denies the veracity of the tape.
Even Merkel accepts it. Nuland doesn't deny it -she just says she is a victim of sophisticated engineering.
you are stuck on a narrative and refuse to see anything you do not want to see.
A true Clintonista.
Angela Merkel: Victoria Nuland's remarks on EU are unacceptable
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/07/angela-merkel-victoria-nuland-eu-unacceptable
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has described as "totally unacceptable" remarks by a senior US official who said "fuck the EU" while speaking about the crisis in Ukraine.
Nuland refused to be drawn into the row. "I will not comment on a private diplomatic conversation," she said. But she implied she had been a victim of a sophisticated eavesdropping operation carried out by Russia's spy agencies. The embarrassing tape surfaced with Russian subtitles. "It was pretty impressive tradecraft. [The] audio quality was very good," Nuland said on Friday.