Ukraine's Government Holds a Tenuous but Important Position

At Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on March 30 in Paris, the Russian delegation demanded that Ukraine institute a federal system to empower its regions and remain neutral in its alliance systems. A day earlier, Vitali Klitschko, a boxer-turned-politician and frontrunner in Ukraine's presidential race, withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Petro Poroshenko, a pro-Western oligarch. While high-level negotiations between the United States and Russia are shaping a possible compromise in Ukraine, and Klitschko's endorsement of Poroshenko has redefined the country's presidential race, Ukraine's future hinges largely on the unity and stability of its interim government.