Leaning West News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Russia, it is sort of leaning west, not fully embraced by the west. >> until the breakup of the soviet union, it was the ukrainian soviet socialist republic, firmly within moscow's sphere of influence. that came to an end in 1991 and ukraine face aid crossroads. >> there was so much scope for how to reimagine europe. and i think ukraine was especially problematic for two reasons. one is that it wasn't just on the periphery. it was core to the soviet union's understanding of who it was. secondly, it had all of these weapons. >> in 2000, nukes in ukraine. an unexpected crisis solved with a 1994 ...

>> are any of e them reading the response of russia as thumbing their nose at that suggestion, the flag going up over the building? >> what's happening, this is a real world, right? whatever russia does, you have events on the ground that can really get out of hand. you have a divided country. you have the eastern part of the country leaning east towards russia, and the western part of the country leaning west. look at that right there in those pictures there. hard to control. >> that's what will take the politics and put them out of the realm of just what we say to each other and forced to do...