Historian Timothy Snyder: Ukrainian crisis is not about Ukraine, it’s about Europe

The true object of Moscow’s policies is not even Ukraine, it is Europe, which finds it hard to accept what the Ukrainian crisis is really about, says Yale University professor Timothy Snyder in an interview to DELFI. The historian has recently dedicated much attention to studying Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, its implications to the West and propaganda methods.

What is your take on the current situation of Urkaine? You have written that, for all Putin's efforts, Ukraine is growing to be a united state fighting for its independence.

Yes, Ukraine is maturing as a nation. The fundamental problem in Ukrainian society is corruption and the rule of law. And then there is the problem of the looming humanitarian crisis in Luhansk and Donetsk, where the Ukrainian state will have to demonstrate it has some capacity to help the people at least in the territories under the control of the Ukrainian army. So politically things are going remarkably well, but economically country needs an awful lot of help.

What else are we to expect from Russia? 

You never know what the future holds. The main thing to remember is that Russia’s Ukraine policy is not really about Ukraine. It’s really about Europe. The attempt to destabilize Ukraine is part of a larger attempt to destabilize Europe. 

We can’t expect that Russia’s policy will change because of the ceasefire in Ukraine or because of elections in Ukraine. Nothing in Ukraine will change Russia’s policy. I think the only thing that will change Russia’s policy towards Ukraine is a fundamental reorientation of Russian foreign policy towards the European Union from negative back into positive. And until that happens, we could expect more of the same.

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