[bobthechef]

> Then you also get which country is doing the destabilization, and it sure as hell isn't the EU.

That's a pretty simplistic view of how international politics and geostrategy is played.

ATO expansion is undesirable to Russia and counter to agreements made between Russia and NATO. Russia has also been testing Western responses to its salami incursions beginning with Abkhazia and now Ukraine. The most it has gotten so far are sanctions (probably better than a full scale war at this point, but longer term this tactic may not succeed as Russia keeps chewing away). American meddling and financing of Euromaidan to topple Yanukovych and shake up Ukrainian politics is what opened the door to Russian pretexts to invade a country whose borders are not only an unstable Soviet construct (culturally speaking), but which plays an important territorial role in Russian security (control of Crimea allows control of the Sea of Azoz).

You can probably add NordStream II to the mix, but that's more about gaining the upper hand over Central Europe in cooperation with Germany, hence the farce of EU unity, and in this case, where energy security and its geopolitical consequences are concerned.

Thus the need for a Central European bloc that can withstand the grind of American/Western and Russian cultural and geopolitical tectonics. The Three Seas Initiative is ostensibly supposed to accomplish this, exploiting American backing, at least in the beginning. Belarus had historically been oriented toward this center of gravity until the 19th century. The Belarusian opposition certainly leans in the historical direction and the only other alternative is Russian vassalage. This Central European bloc incidentally would function like a buffer that would also serve the security interests of Europe in general.

[matkoniecz]

> That's a pretty simplistic view of how international politics and geostrategy is played.

It is pretty clear that Russia invaded another country, they are the country is doing the destabilization.

Additional info may be useful to get more detail, but it is not changing basic facts.

> ATO expansion is undesirable to Russia and counter to agreements made between Russia and NATO.

ATO expansion? Counter to which agreements?

(I guess this agreements are similar that Ukraine got about integrity of it territory)

[koonsolo]

>> Then you also get which country is doing the destabilization, and it sure as hell isn't the EU.

> That's a pretty simplistic view of how international politics and geostrategy is played.

So EU is sending soldiers to the eastern front of Ukraine to fight??? It's well known among Ukrainians who is doing the fighting over there.

Ukraine democratically decides to prefer EU over Russia, maybe all parties need to live with that.

[oldnews193]

> Ukraine democratically decides to prefer EU over Russia, maybe all parties need to live with that.

Russia has been opposing the expansion of NATO for decades, and Ukrainian politicians at different moments were aiming to join NATO (rather than signing memorandums not to join NATO). I suppose, we Ukrainians can be upset at how unfair it is that our sovereignty is not respected, but that won't earn us any more agency. Russians are the ones with the nukes, overwhelmingly stronger military and with opinions on the matter, so maybe we've got to be smarter about how we navigate through challenges ahead of us.

[sergeykish]

You are free to relocate to occupied territories.

[chupasaurus]

> longer term this tactic may not succeed as Russia keeps chewing away

As for last decade, Russia keeps chewing away itself since the real income declines each and every year while capital runs away.

[baybal2]

> That's a pretty simplistic view of how international politics and geostrategy is played.

I see how profound is your sophisticated understanding of high art of geopolitics...

> counter to agreements made between Russia and NATO.

Do you see Russia keeping to any agreement it had with NATO now?

What I see is politicians of NATO member countries running around Putin like headless chicken, trying to decipher some "tough geopolitical riddle," while the later laughs, and keeps sending them his KGB agents.