I recently read an article by President Putin “”On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians“ http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66181 published in July last year. I had some trouble following the historical narrative and would need some time with paper, pencil and maps to work it out fully. However, what came across was the history is rather complicated. For example I had not realised that the Crimea became part of Russia in the 18th century after wars with the Ottoman Empire but was moved into Ukraine in 1954 by Russia during the time of the USSR. The territory of Ukraine after the breakup of the USSR was not a long-standing entity.
Whilst I don’t understand the complexities of the positions on both sides, it does make me wonder whether the West has helped the situation by encouraging Ukraine to think that it might be feasible for it to join NATO and the EU. I can see why Russia is not happy about Ukraine trying to turn towards the West and maybe it would be better to work out a middle way. President Macron is said to have floated the idea of “Finlandization”, which I understand was not well received in Ukraine. It refers to Finland’s approach of refraining from criticising Russia, recognising that it did not have the ability to challenge its more powerful neighbour.
I have no idea what the solution might be but it does appear to me that Ukraine and the West need to be realistic about what is possible. I can’t see Russia being happy with the countries on its borders creeping more and more Westward in their world view.