"Well before that" is OVER. We are talking about the here and now you and seem to want to avoid discussing that. There would be NO "civil war" in Ukraine NOW if the nation of Russia under the leadership of Putin were not actively supporting, with weapons and training, these separatists. Period. Heck, some of the leaders of these "separatists" probably aren't even from the Ukraine at all. It looks pretty clear many of them are Russian military/intelligence personnel from Russia itself.
The Russian backed separatists you seem to support just shot down and killed 298 innocent civilians in a commercial airliner. Stop living in the past. This happened NOW. This happened because Putin's Russia has been giving, and possibly helping operate, sophisticated anti-air weapons to these separatists.
Whatever happened in the past, however angry you are about it, there is no doubt the "civil war" would long be over if Russia would stay out of the Ukraine and let them move forward.
“”Well before that” is OVER.”
No, it isn’t...
Cause = effect
One event leads to another.
To ignore recent history because it doesn’t suit your position or agenda isn’t just stupid, it is disingenuous.