• About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
Friday, May 27, 2022
NEWSLETTER
Irohin Odua
  • Home
  • ABOUT US
    • EDITORIAL TEAM
  • World
  • Politics
  • Contact
  • Donation
  • Home
  • ABOUT US
    • EDITORIAL TEAM
  • World
  • Politics
  • Contact
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
Irohin Odua
No Result
View All Result
Home Uncategorized

The West Must Know Russia Won’t Allow Ukraine to Join NATO

February 26, 2022
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
A A
0
Why I Invaded Ukraine

The West Must Know Russia Won’t Allow Ukraine to Join NATO

By Henry Kissinger

Former US Secretary of State Speaks

The West must understand that, to Russia, Ukraine can never be just a foreign country. Russian history began in what was called Kievan-Rus. The Russian religion spread from there. Ukraine has been part of Russia for centuries, and their histories were intertwined before then. Some of the most important battles for Russian freedom, starting with the Battle of Poltava in 1709 , were fought on Ukrainian soil. The Black Sea Fleet — Russia’s means of projecting power in the Mediterranean — is based by long-term lease in Sevastopol, in Crimea. Even such famed dissidents as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Joseph Brodsky insisted that Ukraine was an integral part of Russian history and, indeed, of Russia.

The European Union must recognize that its bureaucratic dilatoriness and subordination of the strategic element to domestic politics in negotiating Ukraine’s relationship to Europe contributed to turning a negotiation into a crisis. Foreign policy is the art of establishing priorities.

The Ukrainians are the decisive element. They live in a country with a complex history and a polyglot composition. The Western part was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1939 , when Stalin and Hitler divided up the spoils. Crimea, 60 percent of whose population is Russian , became part of Ukraine only in 1954 , when Nikita Khrushchev, a Ukrainian by birth, awarded it as part of the 300th-year celebration of a Russian agreement with the Cossacks. The west is largely Catholic; the east largely Russian Orthodox. The west speaks Ukrainian; the east speaks mostly Russian. Any attempt by one wing of Ukraine to dominate the other — as has been the pattern — would lead eventually to civil war or break up. To treat Ukraine as part of an East-West confrontation would scuttle for decades any prospect to bring Russia and the West — especially Russia and Europe — into a cooperative international system.

Ukraine has been independent for only 23 years; it had previously been under some kind of foreign rule since the 14th century. Not surprisingly, its leaders have not learned the art of compromise, even less of historical perspective. The politics of post-independence Ukraine clearly demonstrates that the root of the problem lies in efforts by Ukrainian politicians to impose their will on recalcitrant parts of the country, first by one faction, then by the other. That is the essence of the conflict between Viktor Yanu­kovych and his principal political rival, Yulia Tymo­shenko. They represent the two wings of Ukraine and have not been willing to share power. A wise U.S. policy toward Ukraine would seek a way for the two parts of the country to cooperate with each other. We should seek reconciliation, not the domination of a faction.
Russia and the West, and least of all the various factions in Ukraine, have not acted on this principle. Each has made the situation worse. Russia would not be able to impose a military solution without isolating itself at a time when many of its borders are already precarious. For the West, the demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy; it is an alibi for the absence of one.

Putin should come to realize that, whatever his grievances, a policy of military impositions would produce another Cold War. For its part, the United States needs to avoid treating Russia as an aberrant to be patiently taught rules of conduct established by Washington. Putin is a serious strategist — on the premises of Russian history. Understanding U.S. values and psychology are not his strong suits. Nor has understanding Russian history and psychology been a strong point of U.S. policymakers.

ShareTweetSendSend

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Exclusive Video :How Politicians took oath of loyalty to former Ekiti Gov, Ayo Fayose, not to the people

2 years ago

BUHARI’S Medical Trip Abroad Shows Govt’s Neglect of Health, Violates National Health Act–ASCAB

1 year ago

Popular News

    Connect with us

    Twitter

    Facebook

    About Irohin Odua

    Irohin O’odua is the prime Yoruba nationalist on line news. Conceived as the voice of the people of the South West, the medium will strive to echo the deep feelings, hope, aspirations and fears of our people in the context of the prevailing culture and political-economy of the Nigerian state.

    • About
    • Advertise
    • Careers
    • Contact

    © 2022 | All Rights Reserved

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • ABOUT US
      • EDITORIAL TEAM
    • World
    • Politics
    • Contact
    • Donation

    © 2022 | All Rights Reserved