Russia always viewed Ukraine as a satellite state different from say Poland.
to which i say: so the fuck what? ruzzia can have whatever delusions it wants, doesn't mean that anyone else needs to change their course of action because of them.
it like saying to a woman after a breakup with an abusive man, "sure, you've moved on - but he hasn't. so you need to forget you plans for a future without him, and take his feelings into consideration instead." anyone care to defend this POV? might makes right, anyone?
After the fall of the Soviet Union typically the Ukrainian government would be pro-Russia and respond to Russian interests. As things changed and Ukraine became closer to the West and its people began to elect politicians unwilling to toe the line Russia got angry.
post-independence Ukraine did NOT typically elect pro-ruzzian leaders, at least not consistently. they would oscillate back and forth: they;d elect a pro-russian leader, and then realize that ruzzia held no goodwill or long-term plans to UA. so they would then elect pro-west leaders, and inevitably learn that the west doesn't hold much regard for UA so wouldn't do much for them... at which point pro-ruzzia seemed like a sucky but better alternative. Ukrainians are not inherently pro-russian, it was a choice of convenience when the west didn't offer the promise of a better alternative.
As things changed and Ukraine became closer to the West and its people began to elect politicians unwilling to toe the line Russia got angry.
that's what's know as a "you" problem, not a "me" problem. as such, it's not on "me" (in this context, Ukraine) to fix.
Is it fair that Russia won’t recognize Ukraine’s right to full self determination? No of course not. But international relations aren’t about fairness, sadly.
yeah, realpolitik sucks for folks on the ground. that doesn't mean we can't aspire to higher values.
I don’t believe the West can pry Ukraine from Russia’s orbit without triggering an existential crisis for itself and surely this is not in its national interest. Meanwhile Russia sees maintaining some sort of recognition of Ukraine’s special relationship with Russia as non-negotiable.
again, that's ruzzia's problem. millions of civilians shouldn't have to suffer and dies\, and a nation and culture shouldn't have to face annihilation, because another country has delusions of grandeur.
If you had been invaded as many times as Russia has been by the West you might too.
they had the french with napoleon, and then the germans/hitler... not sure how many other "western invasions" RU has been subjected too. not enough to justify over-reaction, IMO. this line comes across as apologetic.
and it's not like they haven't invaded most of their neighbors - but ruzzians are special, right? they get to invade, but have special status to never be invaded themselves, right?
The West needs to create the context for a compromise solution that gives both sides a face saving way out.
Ukrainians are happy to do whatever it takes to get the ruzzians to leave UA - but harbor no illusions: any negotiated compromise that includes the loss of any land, AKA any citizens, will be unacceptable to Ukrainians.
The West needs to create the context for a The idea that Russia can be defeated may seem rational to us but to them it’s an existential issue. I don’t think it should be to us.
i'm not ready to sacrifice the lives of millions of people so the residents of a former superpower can maintain their falsely inflated egos. losing empire isn't easy, but RU needs to face reality: they aren't what they used to be, and should adjust their expectations accordingly.
