A major difference between Poland and The Ukraine mess is that the West has known since the nineteen fifties that any move by the West that would result in Russia losing political control over Crimea would have to overcome all of the Military power Russia could muster, and that this would not be in any way negotiable.
There was no surprise here.
Men who fought the cold war (myself included) pointed out during the EU/Ukrainian trade pact negotiations that Russia was going to counter that militarily. It didn’t take a rocket scientist or a prophet to see this coming. It also does not take one to understand that the Russians will not back down and that diplomacy in this case is mere embarrassing public masturbation.
The EU only has two choices. Give it up, or war. Even if they try to pull the US into this, diplomacy will not even slow the military response down.
The Ukrainians want out of Russia’s control and are paying the price for that freedom. EU was their only move.
The U.S. is a member of NATO, why do people keep ignoring that?