On Thursday he turned more than a few heads by effectively blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for Russia’s invasion. Trump said Zelensky “should never have let that war start.”
It was a remarkable statement in and of itself; Zelensky was the one whose country was invaded, but it’s his fault? Was he supposed to just give Russia the territory it wanted and cave to its threats that it would invade?
Whether you agree with them or not (and certainly I don't), Russians have certain beliefs that are central to their identity. Two are
ReplyDelete1) The West is just looking for another excuse to invade and slaughter millions of us, just like Napoleon and Hitler, y"sh. We therefore need a strong western border and buffer zone to keep them away
2) Ukraine is ancestral Russian territory and a major agricultural centre vital to our existence.
From the xenophobic Russian perspective, an independent Ukraine is a threat to its food security. From the paranoid Russian perspective, an independent Ukraine tilting towards NATO along with NATO reaching up to the western border is a constant threat they cannot live with.
Again, we know NATO isn't going to invade Russia and we know that good relations with Ukraine means Russians get to buy all the wheat they need but the Russians simply don't believe that.