Russia views Ukraine as fundamental to its national security, as the nation provides a primary land buffer against a hostile Western Europe. Absent its Ukrainian ally, Russia would be exposed to potential invasion across the Northern European Plain. Russia can never be certain about the intentions of nations in Europe (in the scope of international affairs, 1940s Germany is still recent memory); equally important, the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) into central and eastern Europe presents Russia with a hostile and offensively-armed alliance encroaching on its doorstep. The collapse of the pro-Russian Yanukovych government in Ukraine became a security nightmare come true, as Ukraine’s reorientation toward Europe vastly weakened Russia’s power relative to NATO and Western
Russia views Ukraine as fundamental to its national security, as the nation provides a primary land buffer against a hostile Western Europe. Absent its Ukrainian ally, Russia would be exposed to potential invasion across the Northern European Plain. Russia can never be certain about the intentions of nations in Europe (in the scope of international affairs, 1940s Germany is still recent memory); equally important, the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) into central and eastern Europe presents Russia with a hostile and offensively-armed alliance encroaching on its doorstep. The collapse of the pro-Russian Yanukovych government in Ukraine became a security nightmare come true, as Ukraine’s reorientation toward Europe vastly weakened Russia’s power relative to NATO and Western