Russian, Western and Ukrainian perspectives on the crisis
Russian, Western and Ukrainian perspectives on the crisis
It is sometimes said of the war in Syria that there aren’t even any bad ideas for resolving the conflict, let alone good ones. The war in Ukraine is quickly approaching a similarly intractable state. This is how it looks through Russian, Western and Ukrainian eyes.
Russian perceptions
From the moment the USSR began to implode, Russia’s strategic outlook steadily deteriorated. Beginning in 1999, thirteen former members of the Soviet bloc have now joined NATO, including neighbouring Poland and the three Baltic states: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. It’s former sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, to which it is unentitled according to the United States which claims Central and Latin American as its own, has all but disappeared.
Unsurprisingly, since 2008 President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov have openly stated that NATO’s further eastward expansion is an existential threat to Russia: enough is enough. The line was drawn at the accession of Georgia and Ukraine, and wars have now been fought against both countries to entrench the status quo.
Click here to learn more.