U.S. Abandons Allies From The Former Soviet Bloc For Better Relations With Russia

President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pose during a meeting on nuclear disarmament in Prague, April 8, 2010. Astakhov Dmitry / ITAR-TASS Photo / Corbis

Russia Reclaims Influence, U.S. Doesn't Object -- Time Magazine

Five years ago in the former Soviet Union, governments loyal to Moscow were falling roughly every six months. Those were the glory days of the "color revolutions" that brought new leaders to Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan in quick succession between 2003 and 2005, all with the backing of the United States. The region's political center of gravity was tilting sharply toward the West. But now that trend has been reversed. In the past three months, two of those governments have been ousted. Leaders far friendlier to Russia have again taken power in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, displacing the Orange and Tulip revolutions respectively. (Indeed, Kiev just agreed to extend Moscow's naval lease on the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in exchange for cheaper gas; the previous Ukrainian regime had opposed the move.) The region's last standing leader of a color revolution (the Rose), Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, is feeling lonelier than ever, and he has a warning for the Obama administration: Don't give Russia a free hand in the former Soviet bloc.

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My Comment: When the Obama administration reneged on missile defense for both Poland and the Czech Republic, the message was clear .... the U.S. was going to abandon agreements with Eastern Europe to pursue better relations with Moscow.

The reason why probably stems from the U.S. desire to have Russian cooperation with sanctions on Iran, a coordinated strategy against North Korea, and a transit route to resupply US forces in Afghanistan.

The results of this diplomatic realignment have so far been mixed. Russia has not changed its policy towards Iran, and North Korea is ignoring Russian involvement in the six-party talks on its nuclear program. For the U.S., blowback from this abandonment have not been mixed .... Eastern Europe is now skeptical on U.S. promises, with most of these countries now focusing on developing better relations with Western Europe as well as reaching to Russia to make some form of accommodation.