“If they think they are a separate people *and* are willing to fight”
And therein lies the rub, eh?
Other than the violent Right-Sector mobs, Ukrainians in the effected areas haven’t shown any willingness to stand up for their own nation, despite orders and screams from Kiev to do so.
LOTS of factors are at work here.
Despite not being German, Czechoslovakia allowed itself to be carved up out of existence without firing a shot. If Ukrainians decide not to fight, then that's certainly their prerogative. If they do, then we should provide them with the means to do so, including emptying the mothballed Soviet-era arsenals of the ex-Warsaw Pact countries, and giving them all the fuel they need to create veritable armies of Russian widows and orphans.