Some people argue that the aggressiveness of European Union expansionism was to blame for the crisis in Ukraine. (A threat to which poor Russia was, they say, obliged to respond). That is a foolish argument for several reasons. The most important point they forget is that Ukraine was at the same time under pressure (along with other former Soviet republics) to join Russias Eurasian Customs Union. The European proposal sparked off the crisis not because Ukrainians were pressured or deceived by Europe, but because it represented their last chance to resist being sucked back into Russias sphere of influence, which Russia believed they should never be free to leave. This is now a Russia crisis more than a Ukraine crisis, because the problem is not what Ukrainians want but whether Russians can accept the loss of their empire.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 08:27:54 +0000
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