General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Robert Parry: When Henry Kissinger Makes Sense [View all]Tommy_Carcetti
(43,198 posts)I think Putin probably had influence on Yanukovych in some way to move him away from the EU deal. And I'm certain he offered Yanukovych sanctuary at the height of the Maidan crisis, which is why there is video of him so non-chalantly packing up his belongings over a three day period even though events on Maidan were at their most furious.
And if you recall, as of Feb. 22, Yanukovych did have a right to stay in power for the time being until early elections as per the Polish brokered deal (assuming that the protests would have eventually died down), but I don't think he ever took that deal seriously. He had already made up his mind to leave, and I think it was Putin's offer of sanctuary that did that.
It would be interesting if in Putin's offer of sanctuary, he had bargained away Crimea in the hopes that somehow the Ukrainian people would have been convinced to take Yanukovych back as a leader (for example, if the interim government had fallen apart). But at this point, it's way too speculative to affirmatively say that was the case.