Will Virtual Balancing Ever End?

This is the political game and the Ukrainian policy of balancing. It worked up to a certain time: Kyiv swung from proclaiming Russia its "main strategic partner" to noting exclusive partnership with the United States, thus gaining the odd political dividends. But now there seem to be more losses than gains: Ukraine never came closer to Europe, the US opted for annual inspections of Ukrainian behavior, for it is very much dissatisfied with the problems of its companies in
Ukraine, the absence of true reforms and perhaps Ukraine's constant hopes for US aid. Russia is extremely annoyed at what it sees as Ukraine's duplicity in playing up to Moscow and trying to pursue some kind of independent policy, laying claim to regional leadership, let alone chronic nonpayments of natural gas-related (and perhaps other) debts.
Ukraine seems to be in a certain virtual space. Many words of support for the stillborn Commonwealth of Independent States, the Ukrainian authorities' backing of CIS Executive Secretary Boris Berezovsky, who is now being almost hunted down in Moscow, and the absence of any reaction by the President to Parliament Speaker's statement about quickly joining the Russian-Belarus union go hand in hand with vigorous attempts to break into Europe. Everybody is fed up with Ukraine's complete uncertainty in its policy toward Russia - from "friends forever" to absolutely opposite sentiments in the speeches of the same President, plus announcements that things that cannot be measured by traditional political means, plus the complete mess about Black Sea Fleet bases even after signing epochal agreements.

As of today, Ukraine has not become influential even for its closest neighbors for many reasons - from its traditional mentality to its own fault. But when a new system is being created, I, at least as a taxpayer who finances foreign policy, would like to see some kind of certainty. For the outside world is not virtual reality but the real thing.