Ukraine-Russia Conflict-The Past, NATO and Putin

THE PAST

Ukraine lies between Russia on one side and the Western countries on the other. Russia and Ukraine were both parts of the Soviet Union until it split in 1991, after which they each got an independent identity, and Russia emerged as the strongest. However, Russia and Ukraine were on good terms until 2014. In 2013, Ukraine found itself facing a challenging and vital decision. Either Join the Western countries (EU) or join Russia. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych chose to sign a treaty with Russia, which saw a lot of protests to oppose the apparent authoritarian Russian regime. Yanukovych was sacked and replaced with another president who signed the EU deal. Following this in 2014, Putin made a significant move. He sent forces into Crimea, which had a solid Russian-speaking population. There was a referendum in Crimea which the West and Ukraine deemed illegal, but interestingly the people of Crimea were keen on joining Russia, and Russia annexed Ukraine. Next was the Don Bass region, having a significant ethnic Russian population. In 2014, Pro-Russian separatists began a war with the Ukrainians. They eventually annexed two essential areas of Luhansk and Donetsk. Russia backed the separatists, but Moscow denied the claims. Diplomatic attempts to solve the issue have failed with 15000 loss of lives and 1.5 million people being displaced.

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NATO

The events in the last eight years saw Ukraine have a lot of backing from NATO countries in terms of a military alliance. NATO already has several countries that are geographical neighbors of Russia, and Putin does not want Ukraine to join the pursuit. Putin wants a legal assurance with NATO to drop any prospects of Ukraine being a NATO member and stop all military cooperation with Ukraine, something that the west cannot agree to.

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PUTIN’S SIDE

Putin puts forth his justification as the reason for security and that it is vital to Russia's Sovereignty. However, there is another side to it. If Ukraine joins NATO and establishes a stable democracy, it will be problematic for Putin's governance as the two are incredibly similar in many aspects. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that Putin ensures Ukraine does not join NATO and the west. Despite there being talks for peace, there is little effect. The Ukrainians backed by the west are not going to give in, nor will Russia. The actual suffering people are civilians in Ukraine, and the world is merely watching.

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