[light_hue_1]

Granted a buffer zone of influence?

Let me rephrase that for you from the perspective of someone who lived on Russia's doorstep for many years.

You mean to say "Maybe if we let Russia subjugate a lot more people and confine them into an evil exploitative system against their will".

That's the big difference between Europe's zone of influence and Russia's zone of influence. People want to be part of the EU (the greatest thing that ever happened to the country I was born in). People want to give their lives to not be part of Russia.