If they push their logic until there is gridlock in government, Republicans, who claim to want to re-establish proper governance, could pay a high price for it.
Only Russia (no longer the United States, much less the weak EU) can guarantee territorial integrity to the republics of the former Soviet Union; this is the first lesson of the Ukrainian crisis.
Events in Ukraine following the Orange Revolution were a great disappointment, particularly because of Yanukovich’s rise to power, which is why current events can be seen as a second chance to finish up what Nuland wasn’t able to do in 2004.