Explosions and shots in Ukraine have created horror in the hearts of Ukrainians. Russia has now launched a war in Ukraine. Tens of thousands Ukrainians have fled their homes because of Russia’s airstrikes. Ukraine regained its independence from Russia in 1991 after Soviet’s collapse and declared itself as a neutral state. In 2014, Crimea region of Ukraine has been occupied by Russia and the tension has continued till date. Russia sensed inappropriate meddling of the US and Europe in Ukraine’s domestic affairs. Russia now wants to restore the status quo and to persuade Ukrainians that they have no power over this.
Russia presented a list of demands which included, NATO to stop its eastward expansion and roll back its troop deployment in the countries which joined after 1997. This would put Europe’s security and geo-political alignment at stake. Putin also demanded that NATO needs to deny its membership to Ukraine. Some of the demands clearly reflected that Putin was not trying to secure Russia’s interest in Ukraine but the focus was to relitigate Europe’s security architecture.
Russia has been marshaling its troops over Ukraine’s border since past few weeks. European leaders and the US have been trying to attain peace between Russia and Ukraine but they have failed. Putin (Russian President) has declared war on Ukraine in a televised address earlier today. He said the military action announced by him will seek to “demilitarize” Ukraine and came in response to threats from Ukraine. Moments after his announcement, large explosions were heard in different parts of Ukraine.
Russia wants to make United States seem ineffectual in this matter. It also wants to create a discord between Europe and the US. Russia has had these objectives because of the dissatisfaction after the Cold War. So, Russia is clearly resurrecting its aggrandizement. West entirely blames Russia’s aggression for Ukraine crisis. The United States and European allies also share the responsibility for this conflict. NATO enlargement can also be seen as the root cause of conflict. European Union’s eastward expansion and pro-democracy movement in Ukraine being backed by the West in 2004 also contributed in the escalation of Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Ukraine is not a NATO ally, hence it is impossible to receive forces but it has received help through weapons and military assistance. It is a sovereign nation and it has to decide whether it wants to join NATO or not. The region Donbass is going through a very intensely tensed situation right now. Ukraine is determined to resist but change of policy and orientation might take place, if not change of government. At the end, negotiations are the only way out of this conflict.
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