I don't disagree why Euromaidan happen and what Yanokovich did. I agree with you on that. All I'm saying is that while all that was happening, there was also external pressure to help Ukraine split from it's remaining Soviet ties. All I'm saying is that there was just enough of that to allow Russia to use it as an excuse for their behavior. Just like how in US during 2016 elections people were claiming that Hilary Clinton was being helped by the Russians. Then they said the same about Trump. And now that the dust is mostly settled we saw that "russian bots" were on both sides just trying to create chaos. I'm not claiming that the results of that election were affected by Russia in a meaningful way, but because they were present, they became a useful scapegoat. So, when it comes to Ukraine, all I'm saying is that I don't think EU or NATO actually care if Ukraine joins, but they knew that it would weaken the CIS if Ukraine joined them, or if the war broke out.

Regarding Crimea, I'm sure that Putin and Yanukovich wanted to make Crimea Russian as a way to create a foothold. I think the whole "we'll join EU" thing was never going to happen and Crimea was going to also be an excuse for not doing that.

I want to clarify what I mean regarding NATO and Russia and "provocation". I'm not saying that the Putin was provoked. Putin was going to do everything in his power to keep Ukraine out of EU/NATO. All I'm saying is I think the Europeans knew that this will probably happen and didn't care.

Ukraine and all the other Baltic nations should do what they want and if they want to join EU/NATO, that's great. Putin is a piece of shit. But I feel like the support from the EU in this war has not been enough. And that lack of support makes me think that they don't really care about "helping Ukraine" and they just want to keep Russia tied up in this war. Because they know Putin will keep this thing going until he physically can't.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Whether you are doing this accidentally or purposefully, you are spreading Kremlin's disinformation. Ukraine already split with Russia in 1991. And it was its own independent country. It traded with other countries. The reason they wanted to join EU is to help improve its economy. Belonging to EU opens market for exports to other EU countries and also allows to get funding for improvements.

Also regarding provoking Russia I think you forgot that the west largely saw Russia positively (it was the central and Eastern Europe that did not trust them) until 2022. Despite what they did in 2008 despite 2014. Putin thought west will chicken out once again when he snatches Ukraine to rebuild USSR.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I never claimed that Ukraine wasn't split from Russia in 91, but they did have a couple of presidents that were very friendly with Putin. I don't understand how anything I've said can be considered "pro Russia".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You are saying that this was some kind of western plot of using Ukraine to provocate Russia.

In reality Ukraine is just a piece of a bigger plan, but a very important piece.

Since putin came to power, Russia started implementing a plan to rebuild USSR. It was mostly ignored by US and the rest of the west, but if you read it or basically everything was gong according to plan until 2022:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics

There are some changes, for example I believe China replaced Japan in the plans (the book was published in 1997).

BTW: this interview was recorded before the full invasion, before Zalensky even won. This invasion was not really that surprising for anyone who was paying attention.

https://youtu.be/1xNHmHpERH8

Here's another perspective, showing that Russian window of opportunity was closing down: https://youtu.be/rkuhWA9GdCo

(keep in mind the author talks how Russia thinks, not necessarily the reality. Russia strategy was to itself, they did that by conquering their neighbors to create a buffer, then absorbing them and realizing that now they need to provide buffer for the buffer, repeat)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My god. I'm not saying that Russia was provoked by the west. I'm saying is that those who saw the war coming didn't care and gave Ukraine a false sense of security by saying that they'll have protection. And once Russia attacked the help that the EU is providing is only enough to keep Russia at bay and not to actually push them back. And that this current state of the war is useful for both EU/NATO and the US. I feel like because I don't see it exactly the same way you do, you're lumping me with whoever else you don't agree with.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

No one was providing false sense of security for Ukraine. This was recorded in January, before the full invasion:

https://youtu.be/Q7CNgP7kmQE

The goal was to scare putin from invading in the first place. He even mentioned there that Russia will prevail, because no one expected they would do as well.

As for EU's help, you can thank Hungary for it, they block everything, including humanitarian help, EU countries are forced to provide help independently.