[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.

[BEJ]

He has stated that he wants a buffer zone. They don’t want a Ukraine that will have NATO missiles pointing at them, any more than the US wants Mexico to have Russian missile pointing at it. It’s quite simple.