The situation in the Ukraine is reaching a fever pitch with the EU imposing sanctions and the U.S. considering it. The Ukraine has been on the precipice of all-out chaos for the past several months, and to understand what all is happening now, we have to look back to then.
This is the Ukraine, it gained it's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. They have a President and a Prime Minister, but the former is the official head of state.
The BBC reports that the reason behind the current conflict in the Eastern European country is due to President Viktor Yanukovych rejecting a deal with the European Union in favor of receiving money and strengthing ties with Russia. Official protests started in November of 2013, with the most violent flare starting on February 18th.
Here are some pictures from the protests and the resulting violence from Talking Points Memo.
Also, here is a video that shows more of what Kiev is like on the ground with the protesters. It is called "I Am a Ukrainian"
With the death toll climbing and civil life deteriorating, what is America supposed to do? As a foreign actor, we tend to "police" other countries, but this isn't a small squabble and if the protests continue the way they are going, we may be seeing a government change.
The European Union has decided to implement sanctions against Ukrainian officials by freezing assets and imposing travel bans. Sanctions have always been a sticky situation for countries because they tend to not impact the way they are meant to (they are much more likely to impact a farmer than a government official); however, the EU seems confident that these sanctions will encourage change in Ukraine.
After all of these developments, and a failed attempt at peace, President Obama is considering imposing sanctions. Whether they will be sanctions on goods, or be more like the EU sanctions, we don't know.
What do y'all think we should do?
Impose sanctions?
Military aid?
Sit back and wait?
What do you think?
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