This ‘ protection ’ spilled over into Ukraine where laws were being passed to make Ukrainian a national language , something that ‘ must ’ be used nationwide , whilst most minority languages would be pushed aside to a point of being almost illegal , this included Russian , Byelorussian , and Yiddish . The Russian government saw this as an act of Fascism and stated that ‘ evil forces ’ were at play in Ukraine , something that would dispose of ethnic minorities .
For many this smacked of the happenings of World War II when the Ukrainian territory of Crimea was invaded by Nazi Germany and Romanian troops , leading to the death of 40,000 Crimean Jews . Of course , Crimea has a chequered recent history . When the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine became an independent state Crimea opted to become autonomous , this was offered in part , becoming a ‘ sovereignty ’ as a part of Ukraine .
Early in 1992 the Crimean government sought independence , yet a planned referendum was never held as Ukraine reeled in the region and appointed their own leader . Things remained relatively calm through the last election of the Crimean government in 2010 yet , less than four years later the Ukrainian government dissolved any power given to Crimea , implementing a Ukraine run State Council of Crimea . One day later , March 18 , 2014 , Russia annexed Crimea .
A referendum was held , with over 81 % of eligible voters turning out , to vote almost 97 % in favour of Crimea becoming a part of Russia . Western nations denounced the vote while the United Nations stated it was illegal and that no nation should acknowledge a changing of Ukraine or Russian borders . Sanctions were placed against Russia and numerous Russian individuals .
Russia withdrew some forces and handed parts of the Crimean peninsula back to Ukraine where it remained for almost eight years . In those years Crimea was written into the Russian Federations constitution and the Ruble became the legal tender , Ukraine cut off the North Crimean Canal which supplied 85 % of the ‘ states ’ freshwater .
Russia invested heavily in the region , creating new infrastructure , modernising hospitals , and schools , and building an international airport . The newly formed status quo suited NATO and Western powers , with neither getting involved in the conflicts of Georgia or Ukraine / Crimea , strategically they mattered little .
According to Mearsheiemer , there was no evidence prior to 2014 that Putin was aggressive or would be a threat to the policies of the United States however , at some point it was decided that he was indeed a threat and NATO “ started playing tough ” explaining it ’ s “ all Russia ’ s fault ”. When the USA imposed sanctions it was assumed that “ Russia would fall into line ” despite
Ukraine being important to Russia strategically and having no real value to the West .
“ The USA was willing risk nuclear war for a land it gave not a shit about ,” exclaimed Mearsheimer in a 2015 lecture . “ It made no sense to have Ukraine join NATO .”
In that same 2015 lecture Mearsheiemer predicted that the path the USA was leading Ukraine on would turn to destruction of the country , something that Putin promised if NATO continued to poke a stick by moving ever closer to Russian borders . He ’ d proposed that former Soviet states should be a buffer between Russia and NATO , a sort of no man ’ s land , an area of neutrality . “ We are responsible ,” said Mearsheimer . “ US foreign policy is the problem ,” he suggested , stating that since the fall of the Soviet Union the United States has been “ foolish ” in believing it to be the supreme power and one that dictates how others should behave .
Putin is certainly authoritarian and thuggish however the behaviours of NATO and the United States was leading to other nations losing faith . Over the past 20 years Japan has been concerned that through international intervention and recent conflicts the USA was spreading itself too thin , becoming involved in too much and was no longer alert to the threats closer to home . It ’ s a sentiment echoed by other nations , India has turned to Russia for military help , while China believes it will benefit from the conflict and increased international sanctions placed against Russia by manufacturing and supplying for the Russian market .
International sanctions were swift in coming when Russia moved into Ukraine in February , a worldwide chorus of nations imposed bans on everything from Russian foreign ownership to Russian products including , Vodka and caviar . Western companies closed down operations in what they saw as a retaliation to conflict and protest against the actions of Putin while all international airlines suspended flights and Russian airlines were banned from entering other nations sovereign airspace .
Whilst the likes of McDonald ’ s or Adidas closing has had an impact on the local economy , the scale of closing down international flights and travel has had far further reaching ramifications . Further to the bans , Russia also stopped airlines from over 30 nations from entering its airspace meaning flights now needed to be rerouted on often much longer flightpaths ; longer distances mean greater costs , and greater costs will always be passed on to the consumer .
Within Russia , air travel has been all but closed down , at least for the time being . Russia alone has around 1000 passenger aircraft , of which three quarters are leased , two third of those from outside of Russia meaning fifty percent of all Russian passenger aircraft are leased from
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