Surely you jest! Kiev not a Western city? Great scott, man, Kiev is one of the cradles of Western Civilization! Moscow not part of the West? The same Moscow oft called "the Third Rome"? St. Petersburg not part of Western Culture? Russian dance not part? Tolstoy not part? "Crime and Punishment" not?
Russia, Belarus, Ukraine....all are integral parts of Western Civilization.
Now, I was merely speaking hypothetically when I mentioned taking in 200,000 Ukraninan immigrants a year. But they would assimilate better than probably 80% of the immigrants we are currently accepting.
The only nation in Europe, by the way, which is not part of Western Civilization is Albania. Culturally, it is more along a plane with Turkey.
But Muscovy was always considered an Asian state by Western Europeans at the time. Moscow is called the "Third Rome" because it was part of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire (located in Turkey) was a culture that was a blend of Graeco-Roman and Middle Eastern influences. According to RUSSIAN author Vladmir Baranovsky Byzantine Empire was an increasingly Asian entity. Even the Eastern Orthodox church is not western in many of its practices. In many ways the enlightement skipped Russia and that era was a core element of the modern west. Yes Russia went through periods of Westernization (Peter the Great) but they never succeeded in making the nation entirely European. There has always been a Turkic and Oriental element in Russian/Ukranian culture. In fact Russian dance and music is derived from many Turkic and Central Asian societies. And as far as success in adopting a Western style government, Russia has not been very successful in that department up until now. Even a few years ago the country was a little less than stable. What do you have to say to that?