"I'll say it again: the best security Russia can ask for is a happy, independent Ukraine that fears not the Soviet-style repression of their political aspirations."
Very true.
then why not make russian a 2nd official language and allow for dual citizenship? this would have diffused the east and made it more likely for Yuschenko to win? These two things are not major concessions but they are vital for the people who live there. Discounting their needs that much makes it apparent that they are treated as 2nd rate compared to those that live in the west.