Ukraina valde Ryssland före EU - stora protester som följd, länkar i inlägg2

Claims made in Vladimir Putin's official newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta
Alleges that U.S. has offered tyrant new life if he left the political stage
Says Yanukovych would have continued resistance 'if he had not received weighty guarantees of safety'
'Who could give guarantees in the prevailing situation? Only Washington'

“Ukraine needs to find a new economic model which can help distribute wealth more evenly and put an end to endemic corruption. If they manage to do that, we are behind that,” said one person in contact with Kremlin officials. “That is what you should pay attention to, and not the theatrics.”
A senior foreign policy official said that a break-up of Ukraine would be “an absolute disaster for everyone, and Russia does not want it”.

Russian officials say this is also the message Mr Putin conveyed in the phone discussions he has held with western leader François Hollande, British prime minister David Cameron and twice with German chancellor Angela Merkel.

A German diplomat briefed on one of the conversations said Mr Putin had indeed been “very reasonable and very cool-headed”. “The conversation was constructive, and we got the sense that Putin is observing this very carefully and will not rush into anything.”
However, that calm may not be easy to maintain – particularly given the nationalist ferment in Russia.

As the names of the proposed ministers were read from the stage — with flowers and candles blanketing the square in memory of the dead — it became clear just how completely the ordinary people on the street had seized control of the direction of Ukraine. Desperate for the crowd’s legitimacy, officials felt compelled to present the slate on stage in the square before putting it up for a vote by Parliament.

The reaction from the crowd was decidedly mixed.

Jeers and whistles greeted some established politicians, and cheers for some figures with no government experience chosen because of their role in the uprising. But with Ukraine hurtling toward an economic catastrophe, and no time for protracted negotiations, the gesture of deference to the crowd seemed sufficient to move the process forward.

“We need to change these faces,” said Alyona Murashko, a 28-year-old marketing specialist who stopped in the square to watch the announcement, carrying groceries on her way home from work. Ms. Murashko said that she approved of the choice of Olga Bogomolets, a physician, singer and activist as deputy prime minister for humanitarian affairs, and of Tatyana Chornovil, a crusading activist and journalist to lead Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau.

Ms. Murashko, however, said she opposed Mr. Yatsenyuk and many of the other choices. “I wouldn’t like to see him even temporarily,” she said. “No one from current political parties.” Ms. Murashko said that she was glad that presidential elections would be held in May, but wanted parliamentary elections “as soon as possible.”