"America's nightmare of the opposition with a huge empire, the Soviet Union, will repeat again. By 2025, the Union will be re-established in some form," Pavel Sviridov said. He talked about it, as well as about the future of Ukraine and its political leaders with Pravda.Ru.
"I am a futurist, I study possible variants of the future. I assume that by 2025, the Soviet Union will be recreated in some form. There is an axis of Russia-Kazakhstan-Belarus-Ukraine and possibly Armenia or Kyrgyzstan. They will come to a new unified agreement, and, most likely, it will be based on the Customs Union. For the time being, they build an economic platform. This will be the union, where no one will try to find out, who has got a larger piece of the pie. All will understand that the union is good for all, both socially and politically.
"I'd like to recall the words from a native of Kharkov, Zbigniew Brzezinski, who said that without Ukraine, Russia would always be a regional state, and with Ukraine it would always be a great power.
"The nightmare for the U.S., when it had to confront the vast empire of the Soviet Union for a century, will repeat. What is happening now is not a game of Europe to attract Ukraine. This is a game of the U.S. to prevent an attempt to recreate the Soviet Union.
"As for Yanukovych, he will most likely step down before his powers expire. I believe that the Ukrainian opposition will make him a scapegoat. He will be showered with criticism. He will be viewed as a traitor, who ruined Ukraine's association with Europe. They will simply make him go.
"The political and astrological forecast for Yulia Tymoshenko is not encouraging either. Most likely, she carries the cross like Khodorkovsky does in Russia. That is, she has been knocked out of political struggle seriously and for long. She was removed from the forefront of political life, and that's where she is going to stay. We can see the same with ex-president Viktor Yushchenko - his political career is over with.
"As for Klitschko, I like him as a man,who defends his rightness specifically in the ring. He is a fighter by nature, but, unfortunately, he is not a very good politician. The overall picture suggests that they most likely use him somehow, and he will not make a serious political career. He is clearly not a leader, and at some point he will understand this.
"The protests in Ukraine are only beginning and, in my opinion, they will become even stronger during New Year and Christmas holidays. Oleg Tyagnibok is a more prospective figure. I think he was not ready for cameras and attention, but during the second half of 2014, he will surely turn into a national leader.
"Although I think that Yanukovych will step down earlier. Perhaps they will form an interim administration, but it is possible that he will make significant concessions and reshapes his team to change the government. This, of course, will change circumstances.
"Another "hero of Maidan" is Arseny Yatsenyuk. He is the most ardent pro-Western opposition activist. However, he lost.
"If we talk about the prospects of Ukraine, most likely, it will benefit from the alliance with Russia and will not rush to Europe. Ukraine will prefer to inflate its credentials. That is, the Ukrainians will insist that they do not need associate membership - they need full-fledged partnership.
"There are many interesting conflicts around. How can one compare the scope of the Customs Union with Russia's WTO membership? They are mutually exclusive factors. It is impossible to be a little bit pregnant. So it's either the Customs Union or the WTO. Ukraine is facing the same situation. Inevitably, Russia will do everything possible to make Ukraine choose Russian carrots, rather than European sticks. But maybe there is a steel hook inside carrots?
In general, in my opinion, we are one nation. It would be logical if Russians still travelled to Ukraine's Crimea for summer holidays, and Ukraine would be a continuation of Russia. In turn, Russians would believe that Ukraine is the mother of Russian cities, from where Russia started. I think that our countries have great historical future.
Pravda.Ru