Damien

Well for our point of view Europe is our backyard. However it's not all of a sudden, we have tried sanctions and other forms of diplomatic pressure in other countries but not always with their military apart from Bosnia. We took an interest in the Ukraine during the Orange revolution. We (well, mostly the EU) got involved in the Russian war in Georgia too. European countries have always been rather involved with the Eastern Bloc since the fall of the Soviet Union. It's utterly baseless to suggest that we've ignored them until now.

We can't keep backing down in the face of Russia. It won't end well. Putin will see that Europe not only doesn't have the will to stop them but will even terminate relations with those countries to appease Russia. It's not as if Russia would love to escalate things either, instability in the Eastern Bloc doesn't help them anymore than it helps us.

I don't really think Russia has the will to invade a democratic country to install a puppet regime. I think they will also be limited to diplomatic pressure such as withdrawing loans and oil. This is where the EU should step in and let them know that if they don't have friends in the East then they have them in the West and that they, the people of the Ukraine, should decide who governs them. Be is an administration who favours Russia, one who favours the EU, or one who chooses to attempt neutrality and becoming a Eastern Switzerland who really don't want to get involved.

The important thing is to allow them to make that choice themselves rather than do as you suggest and enforce Russian-installed governments to keep the Kremlin happy.

---------- Post added at 20:28 ---------- Previous post was at 20:26 ----------

The EU and the people of the Ukraine. Whose complaints extend to more than just the rejection of the EU trade agreement.