Ukraine & Russia Crisis: Paradox of Crisis

Despite recent reports of a slight lessening in tensions, Russia seems to be on the brink of invading Ukraine, with perhaps 150,000 troops massing on three sides. Americans of both parties are increasingly resolute in their anti-Russian stance, wary of once again appeasing a tyrant with territorial ambitions. But is it really territory that Russia wants now?

For most American experts, the answer is obvious. Putin has already annexed the Crimean peninsula on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast. He is supporting the breakaway “people’s republics” of Luhansk and Donetsk in “Donbas,” the Russian-speaking region of eastern Ukraine. The conflict has already killed perhaps 14,000 people. And as we know, Putin considers the fall of the Soviet Union a geopolitical disaster. There is no doubt that he would redraw all of Russia’s frontiers if he could, and he has gone so far as to tell at least one American president that Ukraine “is not a real country.”

About the Author

Mario Loyola

Mario Loyola is a professor of environment at Florida International University and a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

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Despite recent reports of a slight lessening in tensions, Russia seems to be on the brink of invading Ukraine, with perhaps 150,000 troops massing on three sides. Americans of both parties are increasingly resolute in their anti-Russian stance, wary of once again appeasing a tyrant with territorial ambitions. But is it really territory that Russia wants now?

For most American experts, the answer is obvious. Putin has already annexed the Crimean peninsula on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast. He is supporting the breakaway “people’s republics” of Luhansk and Donetsk in “Donbas,” the Russian-speaking region of eastern Ukraine. The conflict has already killed perhaps 14,000 people. And as we know, Putin considers the fall of the Soviet Union a geopolitical disaster. There is no doubt that he would redraw all of Russia’s frontiers if he could, and he has gone so far as to tell at least one American president that Ukraine “is not a real country.”