On November 22nd of this year, Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanokovych, backed out of a financial cooperation and support agreement with the European Union. Since that time, large-scale protests in Ukraine?s capital city of Kiev have gained international attention as the country?s 46 million people publicly debate the state of their government and its relationships with Russia and the EU. On December 17th, a deal between Ukraine and Russia was signed giving financial support in the form of Russian purchases of $15 billion of Ukrainian government bonds and significant discounts on Russian natural gas. In essence, Ukraine is deciding which sphere of influence it will be beholden to in the near future ? that of ?Mother Russia? or a move away from Warsaw Pact times and into greater European dominance of Ukrainian domestic affairs. This has broad implications for Europe, markets, and for the idea of austerity.
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