3 keys that explain why Ukraine is so important for Russia

Some believe that it is a personal obsession of President Vladimir Putin. Others say it is an attempt to return to a sort of new Cold War.

The tensions between Russia and Ukraine have set off alarms in numerous foreign ministries around the world, which openly speak of the possibility of a war between these two countries.

Fears have been fueled by the accumulation of more than 100,000 Russian soldiers along the border with Ukraine and by a series of demands presented in mid-December by Moscow.

The Kremlin demands a commitment that Ukraine never join NATO, establishes limitations on the troops and weapons that can be deployed in the countries that joined that alliance after the fall of the Soviet Union and demands the withdrawal of military infrastructure installed in Eastern European states after 1997.

“They really want to return to the existing borders in Eastern Europe during the Cold War”says George Friedman, founder of the international foresight and analysis firm Geopolitical Futures, summarizing Moscow’s demands.

Washington, which speaks of an “imminent” threat from Russia on Ukraine, has put some 8,500 soldiers on alert to be deployed in Eastern Europe, has sent warships to the Black Sea and has ordered the evacuation of the relatives of its diplomats in Kiev. , the capital of Ukraine.

In contrast, the government of President Volodimir Zelensky has called for calm, stating that this crisis began with the Russian invasion of Crimea and the occupation by pro-Russian groups in the Donbas region, in eastern Ukraine, where almost 14,000 people have died since 2014.

These actions led to sanctions against Moscow and its growing alienation from the West. But why does Russia attach such importance to Ukraine? BBC Mundo tells you three keys that explain it.

1. A security zone

“Russia is following these policies at the moment because it perceives that a country that is close to its border is becoming a platform for a threatening military alliance. so it has to do with the possibility of Ukraine becoming a member of NATO and thus hosting NATO missiles and troops”, tells BBC Mundo Gerald Toal, professor of International Relations at Virginia Tech University in the USA.

George Friedman, de Geopolitical Futures, remember that the territory of Ukraine has served as a protection zone for Moscow since the time of the Napoleonic invasion of 1812.

“Ukraine is the western border of Russia. When they were attacked from the west during World War I and World War II it was the territory of Ukraine that saved them. They had to travel more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) to reach Moscow. If Ukraine is in the hands of NATO. Moscow is perhaps 400 miles (640 kilometers) away. So Ukraine has been part of what has saved them from Napoleon onwards. It is a security zone that they must have,” he says.

Toal indicates that from Moscow there is a perception that they are being surrounded by an enemy alliance, something that generates concern in the great powers.

Remember that at the beginning of this crisis, the Russian deputy foreign minister made reference to the missile crisis of 1962 and that later Moscow commented that it could deploy military forces in Cuba and Venezuela.

“They did that to emphasize that the United States has its own Monroe Doctrine, its own anxieties about the presence of hostile forces near its territory, and in that sense, it is a valid argument,” he says.

“But the answer to Moscow is that that happens because Russia is threatening Ukraine and took part of its territory. From the point of view of Ukraine’s national security, they are looking for help, they are looking for allies against a state that they see as very dangerous that has already taken away part of their internationally recognized territories,” he adds.

2. Historical, religious and cultural links

On July 12, 2021, in a lengthy article on relations with Ukraine, Vladimir Putin denounced that the neighboring nation was falling into a dangerous game aimed at turning it into a barrier between Europe and Russia, into a springboard against Moscow.

Putin was not referring only to the security and geopolitical dimension, but above all to the historical, cultural and religious ties that have linked Russia and Ukraine and about which he wrote extensively.

The president went back, among other things, to the time of the ancient Rus people, considered the common ancestor of Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians, and highlighted the many milestones of common history to argue his view that Russians and Ukrainians are “the same town”.

Gerard Toal points out that numerous elements that mix history, culture and identity are involved in this idea.

“Russia does not see Ukraine as just another country. The dominant view of Russian nationalism is that Ukraine is a sister Slavic nation and, moreover, that it is the heart of the Rus nation. This is a very powerful ideology that makes Ukraine a central element of Russian identity,” he says.

“Therefore, there are very powerful emotions when Ukraine as a nation defines itself in opposition to Russia. This causes a lot of anger and frustration in Russia, which feels betrayed by a brother. And that has to do with the inability of the dominant view in Russia to recognize the Ukrainian national identity as something that is separate from Russia,” he adds.

George Friedman dismisses the importance that Ukraine could have for Russia from a cultural or historical point of view and assures that Moscow’s real concern is geopolitical.

“Yes, they share a history. Historically Ukraine was dominated and oppressed by the Russians. During the Soviet period they suffered a great famine in which millions of people died, because Russia wanted to export the grains they produced. So the idea of ​​great unity between the Russian and Ukrainian people is nonsense,” he says.

3. Putin’s legacy

In an interview last December, Kadri Liik, principal analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations specializing in Russia, commented to BBC Mundo that from his point of view the issue of Ukraine is one in which Putin’s own emotions come into play a lot. , so at times their positions may not look very rational.

Gerard Toal points out that there is an argument according to which Putin has been personally humiliated by what has happened to Ukraine during his tenure, when his recurring efforts to install pro-Russian leaders in Kiev have not borne the expected fruit.

“The general argument is that he has been struggling with this issue for quite some time and that he feels that it is an unfinished business that is part of his legacy and that it needs to be fixed once and for all,” he says.

“Putin believes that the West has turned Ukraine into an anti-Russian platform and that this is something he must solve,” he adds.

Toal, however, considers it risky to analyze the crisis in Ukraine from an emotional perspective.

“A lot of analysts do it and I think it’s a dangerous approach. When we look at the emotional arguments in the Ukraine crisis we tend to reduce them to ideas like Putin is upset and disgusted. We turn him into a kind of crazy person who makes decisions irrationally. I think it’s a mistake. Those emotions are genuine and part of Russia’s geopolitical culture., so any leader in that country would have to deal with them and decide whether to affirm them or set them aside,” he explains.

“I do think that Putin’s policies have a lot to do with his personality and his history as a former KGB agent who was trained in the Soviet era and who has a particular yearning for a strong state. All of those things are extremely important. A leader from the younger generation would probably approach these issues differently, but those emotions are genuine and we cannot say that they are just elements of Putin’s personality.”