Opinion: Moscow pursues economic goals, appointing Zurabov

Having appointed the "cold pragmatist" Mikhail Zurabov to succeed the "sentimental" Viktor Chernomyrdin, Moscow is realizing a strategy to buy up cheap financial and industrial assets in Ukraine, Director of the Institute of Global Strategies Vadym Karasiov told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday, Kyiv Post reported.

According to Karasiov, it was highly unlikely that Russia would send a diplomat with a career in mind to perform a routine mission in Kyiv.

"Ukraine is too precious for today's Russia and its leaders [to do that]," the expert said.

As for the primary tasks of a new diplomatic mission, Karasiov said that they were to prevent the Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.

"The secondary ones are not to let the Ukrainian gas transportation system to be controlled exclusively by Ukraine and the European Union. Russia wants to have a share in the pipeline or to have the whole pipeline under its control. Without the pipeline, the Ukrainian gas transportation system, Russia can't become a leading player on the new energy scene of Europe," Karasiov said.

The expert also said that Russia wants to involve Ukraine in a new reintegration process in the former Soviet region.