Russia overpowering West in Ukraine: Cunningham

Russia has more tricks up its sleeve than Western governments to play for getting the upper hand in Ukraine, an analyst writes in a column for the Press TV website.

“There’s a new game in town and where [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has a few aces to play, the bankrupt West is holding a bunch of deuces,” Finian Cunningham wrote on Monday.

The analyst referred to Russia’s supply of “35 percent of Europe’s oil and gas,” saying the Russian government is well aware of its “important ace in this new game.”

“The old game of one-sided, bent rules – long played by Washington and its Western allies – is over,” added Cunningham.

He stated that Russia is in a position to “bring bankrupt Europe to its knees by turning off the fuel taps” in case of a “foolish” gesture by the European Union in pushing “Washington’s asinine agenda against Russia over the unrest and violence in Ukraine.”

Cunningham said the ongoing unrest in Ukraine was first instigated by the United States and the European Union (EU).

Political crisis erupted in Ukraine in November 2013, after the ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the EU in favor of closer ties with Russia.

On February 23, amid rising violence in Ukraine, the parliament ousted Yanukovych and named Oleksandr Turchynov, the legislature’s speaker, as interim president.

Meanwhile, Moscow has accused the West of inciting acts of terror and violence in Ukraine.

Cunningham said Putin is assured of having the world opinion on his side as “the world has had enough of US-led state terrorism and lawlessness, declaring war on countries on trumped-up pretexts.”