[BEJ]

Well, if they pulled a rotten deal on America like letting the Russians in, then America has every right to declare it a neutral territory. That is what Russia wanted with Ukraine: to have it neutral and act as a buffer zone.

[Petrosius]

No, Russia did not just want a neutral Ukraine. They want a subservient Ukraine. That is why Putin put pressure on Yanukovych to repudiate the EU/Ukraine economic agreement and join the Russian lead Eurasian Economic Union. Putin does not recognize Ukraine as a legitimate state, seeing as rightfully a part of Russia. He has stated so publicly many times.