Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World

by Adam Tooze

In light of subsequent events, Yanukovych’s decision would come to be seen as the Pavlovian response of a pro-Moscow stooge. It was quite possible that he was subject to Russian blackmail. But setting such rumors aside, his choice was hardly inexplicable. As Ukraine’s prime minister, Mykola Azarov, explained, “[T]he extremely harsh conditions” of the EU-IMF package had decided the issue.42 Nor was this logic hidden from the Europeans in the immediate aftermath of the debacle. On November 28, 2013, according to Der Spiegel, European Parliament president Martin Schulz admitted that EU officials made mistakes in their negotiations with Ukraine. “I think we underestimated the drama of the domestic political situation in Ukraine.”43 Ukraine, he said, “had been in a deep economic and financial crisis” since the introduction of democracy. “They desperately need money and they desperately need a reliable gas supply.” Schulz said he understood why Ukraine moved toward Russia. “It is not especially popular in Europe to help states which are in a crisis . . . and if you look at Moscow’s proposals, they would offer Ukraine short-term assistance that we, as Europeans, cannot and do not want to afford.”