BBCNEWS BBC News at Ten January 21, 2022 22:04:00
To the west, ukraine is an independent, sovereign nation. that means it has a right to self—determination, free from russian control, and if it wants to join nato or any other international alliance, well, that is for it to decide. russia's view is different, it sees the former soviet country as historically within its sphere of influence, and also strategically important. primarily annexed in part to protect russia's access to the black sea, crimea was annexed in part to protect russia's access to the black sea, and as for nato membership, that would be seen as a threat to russia's core sec...