The turmoil continues over the contested elections in Ukraine earlier this week:
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s outgoing president will meet Friday with opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko in the presence of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and European envoys in a bid to solve a political crisis over the country’s disputed election, a European Union official said.
Although he was bringing together the opposing sides, outgoing President Leonid Kuchma also called for an end to the mass demonstrations by Yushchenko’s supporters, who claim that Sunday’s presidential runoff election won by Yanukovych was marked by massive fraud.
I haven’t been following Ukrainian politics but, as it turns out, one of the bloggers who’s a daily read for me has. Check out House of Payne for some informed opinion on the subject:
My prediction? I think we will see a Georgia-style popular revolution with little violence. The real question is whether Putin’s support will embolden Kuchma (and to a lesser extent, Yanukovich), but for the moment at least Putin seems to be wary of throwing Russia’s full weight behind their boys in Ukraine. Without such support, the spark for conflict would have to come from the west, which I think is less likely.
Read the whole thing to get his take on the situation (and give him some non-imaginary readers for a change).
UPDATE: And now I’ve got a pretty good joke from a Ukrainian blogger, Veronica Khokhlova, who’s also pretty well-informed:
Which brings up a joke I’ve heard a few times recently: a Ukrainian man shows up at work, all his clothes rumpled. When his colleagues ask what happened, he replies: “I turn on the TV this morning, and there’s Putin praising Yanukovich. I switch to another channel, and there’s Putin again, praising Yanukovich. So I switch the channels again, and there’s again Putin praising Yanukovich. I turn on the radio, and Putin is there, too, praising Yanukovich. So I figured there was no use turning on the iron.”
UPDATE: More info on the situation in Ukraine on The Adventures of Chester.
Thanks for the link!