The upheavals in Libya and Syria show that the Kremlin still practises a malevolent and morally bankrupt foreign policy.

Ukraine should pay heed so that the nation doesn’t wind up trapped with no friends in the democratic world while being forced, like Belarus, to make one concession after another to Russia’s leaders.

Never missing many opportunities to criticize the United States, the European Union or the very tenets of democracy, Russia has been steadfastly against the NATO-led intervention in Libya to topple the 40-year-rule of strongman Muammar Gadhafi.

We don’t know what kind of government the Libyan rebels will produce, but it is clear that Gadhafi should be tried in an international court for crimes against humanity during his despotic rule.

In Syria, the 40-year dynasty of the Assad family is coming under strong attack.

As a consequence, Russian leaders yet again find themselves on the wrong side of history – a familiar place for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who mourns the Soviet Union’s demise.

Bashar al-Assad has shown his ruthless disregard for human life and his own people by killing 2,000 unarmed protesters and trying to kill the democratic hopes of his nation.

Russia, again, sided with the tyrant in this case.

As a consequence, Russian leaders yet again find themselves on the wrong side of history – a familiar place for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who mourns the Soviet Union’s demise.

Putin has the same contempt for his people, cloaked in Russian chauvinism.

His disdain for democratic elections makes revolution the only path to changing government there.
This is not Ukraine’s path, nor should it be.

President Viktor Yanukovych’s mouth moves in the right direction when he extols the virtues of European Union integration, the importance of democracy, rule of law and economic justice, as well as the need for good relations with the world’s economic leader, the United States.

But Yanukovych’s actions, and those of his administration, move the wrong way. Minus the megalomania, they resemble the authoritarian governance style of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko and, yes, Russia’s Putin.

Mercifully, Yanukovych is not capable of the barbarianism of Assad and Gadhafi.

He prefers that his clique of oligarchs, special police services and bureaucrats do the dirty work while he postures unpersuasively as a democrat. (Note to Security Services of Ukraine head Valeriy Khoroshkovsky: When your agency announces that you’ve broken up a terrorist ring on the eve of the Aug. 24 Independence Day holiday, and the public responds with laughter, you’ve got a credibility problem.)

We hope that Yanukovych and his administration are smart enough – and care enough about this nation’s future – to tiptoe quickly away from Russia’s embrace, both politically and economically.

Belarus’ economic subservience to Russia is all Yanukovych needs to know about the perils of subservience to the Kremlin.

If Yanukovych doesn’t reverse direction soon and adopt a democratic course, he will find himself on the wrong side of history – and may drag the aspirations of a great but suffering nation down with him.