Ukraine as a ‘Bridge’ Between Russia and European Union

Ukraine’s hope and will was in the hands of the dictator Joseph Stalin. Joseph Stalin instilled a totalitarian government into Ukraine’s society. Moreover, Stalin tried to cut any threats that would affect his plan in making Russia a communist utopia, by using the secret police. But according to document 1, the Ukrainian’s were independent, rebellious people who believed strongly in their culture and traditional ways consequently, this caused much controversy with Joseph Stalin and the Ukrainian’s, such as Ukrainian’s not being able to speak up about the collectivization and not being able to practice different religions because of Russification. Likewise, Stalin used propaganda for in an effort of gaining support for collectivization, this

George Soros, the multi-billionaire hedge fund manager and founder and chairman of the Open Society Foundations, sees a way to solve the crisis in the Ukraine. Soros, who fled his native Hungary with his family in 1947 because of the Soviet aggression and communist takeover of his country, can relate to what is happening to the Ukrainian people in their resistance to the Russian aggression in their country. Soros makes a couple of proposals that he feels will benefit Ukraine in his that was featured in The New York Review of Books titled “Ukraine & Europe: What Should Be Done?” This article can be found at www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/10/08/ukraine-europe-what-should-be-done/.

The essay effectively proved its point that sanctions should not be placed on Russia as that would be an error that can lead to another world war. The lengthy buildup of the comparison between World War One and the conflicts in Ukraine

Ukrainian independence movement began before Stalin was in power. He took over power from Vladimir Lenin when he died in 1924. Stalin viewed the continuing loss of Soviet influence and national revival movement in the Soviet Union unacceptable. This act by Stalin was meant to further oppress the Soviet and Ukrainian people by denying them the basic vital essentials they need to survive in life. The communist government under Stalin sought to eliminate any threat from Ukrainian nationalists, which they feared had the power/potential to start a rebellion against them and therefore gain independence from the Soviet Union.

The two countries, Russia and Ukraine, had different reactions towards the armed violence and impeachment of the Ukrainian president. Although the majority of the Ukrainians opposed Viktor’s decision to procrastinate the signing the EU-Ukraine integration agreement, all the ex-presidents accused for its interference with the affairs of Crimean. The former presidents of Ukraine, including Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma described the present crisis as Russia’s political interventions designed to interfere with the internal affairs of Ukraine and its relationship with the European Union (Hanschke 1). The people of Crimea have not been seeking for secession from Ukraine, but their interest is to have extended autonomy and rights to govern the Crimean affairs with minimum involvement of the government of Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, have dismissed the accusation and stated that it is pursuing the interest of the people of Crimea to join the Federation of Russia. Russia holds that the people of Crimea have the power to decide the future of their territory and Russia will be ready to respect their decision. Study shows that about 90

The controversial Russian military intervention in Ukraine in 2014 depicts lawless arrogant image of Putin. Putin was responsible for invading Ukraine by deploying more than ten thousands armies in eastern Ukraine for more than a year. The civil war broke in Ukraine. The article, “The World May See An Even Darker Side Of Putin” depicted devastated consequences of war:

Russia held majority of land before there was the cold war and the split of the USSR. They had many countries under their control, but the countries were considered to be Russia and not separate. Ukraine was part of the Russian empire for over three hundred years and in 1991 it became a separate country during the fall of the Soviet Union. Many Russian citizens and pro-Russian Ukrainians believe that the country should still be under Russian control though there are still those who oppose it and believe the countries should be separate. The two countries have still been heavily intertwined.

The crisis in Ukraine and Crimea’s recent accession to Russia are events that clearly highlight the underlying sources of conflict in global politics. While Russia sees its actions in Crimea as a “reunification” and the respect for the right of self-determination, the West views it as a threat to European security and a violation of territorial integrity. Crimea has been a debatable topic from the time it came under the control of the Russian Empire in 1783 during the reign of Catherine the Great. The justification then was similar to the reasoning being used by Vladimir Putin today. Catherine declared that she was protecting ethnic Russians in the region from the Ottoman Empire, much as Putin is claiming to protect Russians from Ukrainian

The conflict between the Ukraine and Russia is the Ukraine's most long-standing and deadly crisis; since its post-Soviet independence began as a protest against the government dropping plans to forge closer trade ties with the European Union. The conflict between Russia and the Ukraine stems from more than twenty years of weak governance, the government’s inability to promote a coherent executive branch policy, an economy dominated by oligarchs and rife with corruption, heavy reliance on Russia, and distinct differences between Ukraine's population from both Eastern and Western regions in terms of linguistics, religion and ethnicity (Lucas 2009).

Historically, Russia and Ukraine have had a close and complex relationship, which is important to understand before making any type of judgments on why the current Conflict evolved as it did. Although, it is wrong to say that this relationship had always been a peaceful one, the countries have constantly been closely intervened.

Due to Russia and Ukraine sharing a border and historical ties of unity, their economies have also become conjoined, creating a reliance on each other. According to Hromadske International, “Russia and Ukraine’s territorial proximity and integrated Soviet-era economy means that both countries’ economies are largely intertwined” (Dunnet Web). In regards, Ukraine, along with other countries in the EU, relies heavily on gas from Russia. Recently, Russia wanted Ukraine to pay off its gas debts—about 5.3 billion—and cut off Ukraine’s supply until a debt was paid. Ukraine had been struggling to afford the gas prices as a steep rise occurred after Yanukovych signed a reduced deal on gas with Russia. When Russia cut off Ukraine’s supply, EU nations were greatly affected as well. The Russian gas lines run through Ukraine into EU nations, meaning the cutoff of Ukraine’s supply meant no gas for EU nations as well. This caused support and assistance for Ukraine from the EU. Although tensions have been high between

The current sovereignty dispute in Ukraine raises many questions. Along with those questions, particular interests are peaked. From historians, to military strategists, even those who believe the Cold War never ended watch with a discriminating eye. Of particular interests is Russian President Vladimir Putin. Political and historical experts alike have compared his recent actions and tactics to that as someone reading and implementing the works of Niccolo Machiavelli. Indeed, one can simply go chapter by chapter from works such as “The Prince” and see striking similarities. But what if Ukraine’s response was different? What if they responded to Russian military incursions and action on their territory the same way?

Even though the enlargement of NATO and European Union was a strategic move to make a political and economic reform in this particular region, which would help it in a better integration with western countries, “the recent rise of nationalist and populist forces in several countries in eastern Europe, threatens to undermine the reform process.”[1] Happenings such as the “Orange Revolution” in 2004 and Crimea crisis in 2014 in Ukraine, or the authoritarian ruling style by the Belarus president Aleksandr Lukasenko (who still sustains close political and economic ties with Russia and bans political and civil freedom in the country) are solid indicators of an ongoing political instability in this area. On the other hand, countries such as Romania (which also had a rocky history of decades-long dictatorship of Nicolai Ceausescu),

In the 2008 Bucharest Summit, the Allies agreed that Georgia and Ukraine will possibly become members of NATO; NATO stated on their topic of enlargement that their doors were open for Ukraine. On November 30th, 2013, protest erupts after Ukrainian President Yanukovych rejects deal with the European Union (News, 2013). Approximately, 10,000 demonstrators carrying the EU flag protested in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev; it was clear Yanukovych was pressured by Russia to reject this deal. Yanukovych argued that “could not afford to sacrifice trade with Russia, which opposed the deal. He also described an EU offer to lend Ukraine 610m euros (£510m; $828m) as inadequate and said it would need at least 20bn euros a year to upgrade its economy to European standards” (News, 2013). This event brought about the orange revolution in Ukraine calling for the resignation of President Yanukovych. “EU leaders said in a statement that they "strongly" disapproved of Moscow 's pressure on Ukraine not to sign - while Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the EU of blackmail”; the EU members also stated that the doors were open for Ukraine (News, 2013). A year later, November 2014 Ukraine finds itself in armed battle with pro-Russian separatists. These separatist then elect President Poroshenko whom is backed by Russia, however “denounced by the West” (News, 2014). These tensions within Ukraine and between Russia bring about difficulties with the gas supplies. A deal is brokered by the EU, in

Ukraine for many years had hard relations with Russia, because Russia always wanted Ukrainian land. Ukraine and Russia were always called sister, because these two countries have similar language and culture. These two countries were enemies for many centuries just because of the Russian plans that it had about Ukraine. Russia is a big country that has a huge army and strong believes that Ukraine must be Russian. Millions of Ukrainian people had died to get their families free. Ukraine- Russian relations were always complicated, because the Soviet Union, independents of Ukraine, and the war 2014.