Putin, Trump, and The Invasion Of Ukraine
The Significance Of Ukraine In American Political Discourse
Ukraine is one of the largest countries in Europe, with a population of about 44 million people, approximately the same as Spain. However, it is not the kind of country that would normally be at the epicenter of U.S. politics, except it very much has been for years. Ukraine has played a significant role in American political discourse.
To understand Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, its significance to U.S. politics, and to be able to predict his next moves, you must also understand the three distinguished and utmost significant geopolitical moves made by Vladimir Putin over the past three years.
In 2016, Paul Manafort was named Chairman of the Trump Campaign and chief strategist. He was a veteran political operative who got his start in the 1970s with the likes of Roger Stone. In the 80s, Manafort began a lucrative career by advising and lobbying for dictators and strong men. In the early 2000s, he started working for Viktor Yanukovych, the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s puppet candidate to lead Ukraine.
It is noteworthy that in October 2004, Yanukovych had attempted to steal the presidential election in Ukraine through voter intimidation and stuffed ballot boxes. Even the Russian agents poisoned his pro-Ukraine opponent, resulting in his face becoming disfigured, leading to a popular uprising in Ukraine known as the Orange Revolution. It caused the downfall of Viktor Yanukovych. He, then, employed Paul Manafort. A political operative, Konstantin Kilimnik, was an integral part of Manafort’s dealings in Ukraine and Russia, who the U.S. investigators say is a Russian intelligence official.
Manafort gave the Ukrainian Putin candidate all the needed political transformation to win the next presidential election. And you guessed it, their work paid off, and Putin’s puppet, Viktor Yanukovych, won the Ukrainian presidency in 2010.
In 2013, Yanukovych opted to align Ukraine closer with Russia by refusing to sign a trade agreement with the European Union. This decision, along with the blatant corruption of Yanukovych and his allies, set off heavy protests across the country for months. Yanukovych was, eventually, forced out of office…
