Therefore, understandably, Russia was able to employ its major economic leverage in a fairly straight-forward manner when conducting negotiations with the Ukraine, not to mention the $3.5bn debt owed by the latter for gas imports.
The West, however, employed alternative means of maintaining and increasing influence in the region. On the one hand, it has been tempting Ukraine with various proposals regarding integration into the EU and NATO, which have been met with enthusiasm by the population in the West, but skepticism and aggression by the East.