You're reading: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Want to understand Russia-Ukraine relations? Follow the money

When Viktor Yanukovych became president of Ukraine in January 2010, it seemed inevitable that Kyiv would drift increasingly into Moscow's orbit.

And it has – but only to a degree.

Just three months after Yanukovych took office, he and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an agreement that allows the Russian Black Sea Fleet to keep its base in Crimea until at least 2042.

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