ABSTRACT

President Yanukovych. The initial (and perhaps naı¨ve) hope was that Yanukovych would actually bring stability and improvement to the chaotic “orange” regime.37

Both the US and the EU were fatigued by Ukraine.38 Yet while the EU’s highly technocratic approach with its focus on rule-based functional cooperation helped it retain credibility as a partner, it simultaneously created a distinct perception of the EU as a disinterested and detached democracy promoter. The US had a secondary role during Yanukovych’s rule with little, if any, leverage over domestic developments.