Dr K says: “... if Ukraine is to survive and thrive, it must not be either side’s outpost against the other — it should function as a bridge between them.”
This makes sense
But, “The West must understand that, to Russia, Ukraine can never be just a foreign country.”
This does not.
Russia is a ‘central’ player in many dynamics on the World Stage, there is little it can be excluded from, and in fact Putin actually hosts many of the International gatherings, which by the way the International Leaders overwhelmingly agreed it be so.
Europe is dependent on Russia for oil and gas, and the volumes of revenue into European banks and investments off- shored from Russia..... meaning their interdependence is uneven, with Russia having more leverage than the Europeans...and they really don’t object to it being so.
The use of force is off the table because the US interests in Ukraine are not worth a war with Russia....and it can’t be underestimated that Russia cares far far more about Ukraine than the U.S./EU/NATO does.
Moscow also annually writes off $97.75 million of Kiev’s debt for the right to use Ukrainian waters and radio frequency resources, and for the environmental impact caused by the Black Sea Fleet’s operations.
The West DOES indeed need to understand Russia will never see Ukraine as just another country. It’s far more than that and always will be.
The best that can happen is for US/EU and Nato to let Russia and Ukraine determine their agreements and stay out of their affairs..... Ukraine needs to learn how to fairly run the country side by side with one another...and remain an Independant country from Nato And Eurasia both.
Ukraine’s biggest problem is they don’t have Representatives looking out for the country and it’s people as a whole.