An unprecedented political crisis and a new round of cold war are going on in Ukraine, the last border between the Western camp and Russia. Ukrainian Supreme Soviet (Parliament) announced on November 27 that the result of the second round of voting held on November 21 was invalid. Ukrainian Central Election Committee proclaimed the election result on November 24, affirming that Viktor Yanukovich, the present Prime Minister, won by a 2.85-percentage point margin over the other candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, head of the party alliance "Our Ukraine". On November 28, Ukrainian President Leonid D. Kuchma said the resolution by the Parliament on November 27 had no legal effect and he condemned that the opposition's encirclement of the presidential office was illegal. On the same day, the Committee of National Salvation of Ukraine headed by Yushchenko sent an ultimatum to President Kuchma, demanding that Yanukovich be removed from his post as prime minister within 24 hours and fraudulent practice of the Central Election Committee be liquidated. The world-noted Ukrainian election crisis is evolving into a post-Cold War trial of strength.

The bitter cold in Kiev's late November does not weaken the seething confrontation and contest between the two factions after the election campaign. What are unexpected and thought-provoking are the tit-for-tat responses made by Russia and the United States to the election result: Russia congratulated Yanukovich while the US made clear its attitude immediately after the release of the election result, refusing to accept it, saying that it involves fraudulent and unjust acts. Later the European Union (EU) also expressed its rejection of the result and hope that the two sides could resolve the problem through negotiation. Afterwards, Yushchenko called on his supporters to launch political strikes. Supporters of Yanukovich and Yushchenko were in serious confrontation and making no concession to each other. Both candidates gave speeches on the situation, warning that the country was facing split and civil war. Meanwhile, the United States and the West warned the Ukrainian authorities not to resort to force, otherwise Ukrainian international relations would be severely affected. Domestic unrest plus external interference caught the Ukrainian government in a dilemma.

The critical and dangerous Ukrainian situation is hardly predictable. At the critical moment when the country is faced with crisis, Ukraine, pressed by external forces, began to negotiate with all parties concerned to solve problems. During the talks, different Ukrainian factions had endless arguments over whether re-voting and re-balloting is needed. Heated debate also took place among the Ukrainian political and legal departments.

After the announcement of the result of the second-round voting and its congratulation extended to Yanukovich on his success, Russia, after pondering over the opposition by the US and Europe, also expressed its hope that Ukrainian parities could solve the problem through talks. On the other hand, an obvious inclination toward the Yushchenko-led opposition was revealed in the remarks of Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, EU representative Javier Solana, who went to Ukraine to mediate the crisis. Now Russia etc. has involved itself in the negotiations.

The international background of the political struggle can be seen from the disputed Ukrainian presidential election. Yanukovich has support from Russia, and Yushchenko, from the Western world. Therefore the crisis caused by presidential election is not merely a domestic political contradiction but a post-Cold War encounter between Russia, and the US and Europe, which are represented by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In the 1990s, along with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the tremendous changes taken place in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and the disintegration of Soviet Union-led Warsaw Treaty Organization, some members of the socialist family, especially the three Baltic Sea states -- Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, as well as the East European socialist countries, all leaned to the West. The West-going process of those countries greatly galvanized the double Eastern enlargement strategy of NATO and EU and heralded the post-Cold War era.

The above new European members, who are also NATO members, will be officially admitted into the EU in 2005. Therefore Ukraine becomes the last buffer zone between Russia and the Western camp. For Russia, the pro-West "Velvet Revolution" erupted last year in Georgia has signaled that Central Asia is no longer the "backyard" of Russia since US force and influence have gained a foothold there. Western countries' acts of nibbling around Russia have stirred the uneasiness and alert of the latter. For this reason, Russia regards Ukraine as an outpost against NATO and stationed Russia-Ukraine joint fleet on the Black Sea. If change took place in Ukraine, it would seem the loss of a self-defense screen and gate for Russia, so this is a matter of paramount important.

Nevertheless, US aid to and cooperation with Ukraine have long been carried out quietly. For a long time, Russia has devoted itself to building a triangle alliance with Belarus and Ukraine, while the West employs the hard and soft tactic of "hard on Belarus and soft with Ukraine" to break up this strategy. After the release of the Ukrainian election result, Washington said bluntly that Ukraine is very important to the United States, so it will take responsibility for the affairs there.

Currently, various Ukrainian factions and the international community are closely following the development of the situation there. Meanwhile, The offensive and defensive battles being carried out here by Russia and the West will continue. The international community should bear in mind the many lessons derived from the Ukrainian electoral crisis, especially it must never take neo-interventionism lightly, which carries the color of power politics in international relations, still less should it take a laissez-faire attitude toward neo-interventionism.

By People's Daily Online