Ukraine's Viktor Yanukovich, a strong candidate for president, said he would keep the country out of NATO if he wins the January 17 election but said he remained committed to taking it into the European mainstream.
Yanukovich, who was denied the presidency in 2004 by mass protests against a rigged vote, also promised to improve the lot of thousands of Russian-speakers whom he said had been alienated by President Viktor Yushchenko's Ukrainianization policies.
Tagged a pro-Moscow stooge in 2004 after he was congratulated prematurely by the Kremlin, Yanukovich is on the comeback trail. The most recent opinion polls indicate he would beat Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a February 7 run-off vote.
Both Tymoshenko and Yanukovich have said that, if elected, they will improve relations with Russia, Ukraine's former Soviet master, which have slid dramatically during Yushchenko's five years in power.
The pro-western Yushchenko, who has had low ratings and is expected to drop out in the first round, has branded his rivals part of a single "Kremlin coalition" that would compromise national interests.
Funny how Yanukovich isn't "tainted" by Russian support for him. Because I thought that's how people are supposed to react when a foreign power openly favors one side in an internal struggle.
Even if the pro-West side wins the election, Ukraine will stop moving toward the West. Orange is being colored a little bit more red.
