The chronic weakness of the Ukrainian economy (in some respects, it is resembles Russia’s, but without the oil money) goes quite some way to explaining how Putin has been given the opportunity that he has. Basically, he’s in a position to offer Ukraine badly needed cash on superficially easy terms (the long-term consequences, politically and economically, are a different matter) and to do something about the country’s gas bills. Any rescue package from the IMF, by contrast, will be likely be smaller and on, again superficially, much tougher terms.