Do you consider the people of these two countries to be the same despite their divided history and political tension of today?
The peoples are clearly different, otherwise they would be already united. Ukraine has good opportunities to join sometimes EU and to became a democratic state, not now, but probably in 25 - 30 years.Only few Ukrainians wish a new Putin in this country. The USA should became more active in Ukraine, because it has huge challenges like corruption fighting, democratization and improvement of economy. The borders of Ukraine are open, many European countries place there orders for cheap manufacturing.
I think Russia and Ukraine should push for stronger relations. The Soviet Union was build on forced unity. The breakup took away the forced part. Russia and Ukraine are now free to be friendly again on better terms. I think it is not a question of if they will come together again but when. I don't know which generation will be ready to put the past behind them.
No, I don't see them as the same and the political tension was probably greater when Stalin was starving millions of Ukrainians and the NYT Walter Duranty was winning a Pulitzer for supporting Stalin's genocide with propaganda. I've known Russians and Ukrainians and while I've had friends in each group they rarely were friends with each other.
This is what I have tended to believe too. They share their roots in Kiev hundreds of years ago before they were split apart by the Polish. But over time the two people have mostly developed their own distinct culture and identities. They aren't friendly to each other at all. Its a pretty complex situation trying to understand the relations between Russia and any Eastern European country. But what does seem to be rather consistent in that part of Europe is that all of those countries including the Ukraine want to distance themselves from Russia by joining organizations such as the EU and NATO.
Yeah. Make the mistake of calling a Ukrainian girl a Russian. They will disabuse you of the mistake very quickly. The two nations people's make share a common language and somewhat common past but the fact is they don't like each other very much.
The western part of Ukraine is traditionally part of Poland & is the main source of anti Russian sentiment. The rest of it is traditionally part of Russia & if Poland took back it's part of Ukraine the rest of it would get along much better with Russia. The Crimea is Russian territory that was gifted to Ukraine by Brezhnev (a Ukrainian) when he was the general secretary of the USSR (CCCP) & should be given back to Russia although Russia might be better off to move it's navel base & repatriate the 8 million ethnic Russians who live in Ukraine, could go a long way to solving Russia's demographic problems.
I hope that you are joking about wanting the US to become more involved in the Ukraine but something tells me that you are deadly serious with your commentative suggestion. If past and recent history cannot show you the folly of such a pursuit, than look at all of the nations the world over who have actively pursued such an endeavor as examples of taking "him(US)" for a friend. If your suggestion is adopted, it will only end in misery, lamenting and regret.
They are definitely not the same people , Ukrainians inherited most of "New Russia" so they come from a much more multi-ethnic background and they are generally more easy going than the Russians (not Mediterranean level easy going tho) , they also respect their women more . Russians in general seem to be more educated than any other European i have met and i have met people from all over Europe but they have a very childish side that will drive them to do the stupidest of things when you least expected , Ukrainians i think have a more cautious nature. What they both share is cosmopolitanism , they can adapt easily and fit right in and their communities are not hard to penetrate , also they are not narrow-minded and it is often a joy to debate with either nationalities .
I think this is none of our business. That has been a basic problem of ours...to try to "fix" everyone else when we ourselves need fixing.
You have only to visit them to know , as I do every year . And have done for more years than you probably have lived . For sure there is a concentration of Russians and/or those with close Russian connections in Eastern Ukraine and also down in Crimea . But the more West you are in Ukraine , the greater the dislike and often hatred of Russia you will find . Due to the lingering presence of arch Communist and Organised Crime boss Putrid , both countries remain corrupt but ordinary people in both are hospitable -- if repressed and cowed . Many feel there are good arguments for letting East Russia drift back into direct Russian Federation control , allowing the West to look more directly at Europe and the possibility of joining NATO .Putrid would rather die than see that happen !! I can see Yanukovych gone fairly quickly ( A Putrid Puppet figure) and Putin exiting himself within 3 years ---- who knows ? He could be even unseated , though knowing this himself , he is cracking down on all Opposition parties quite ruthlessly since he scammed his way back into power . Ask any true Ukrainian your question and you would be facing some very angry people . Russian people tends to only mean Moscow and St Petersburg and there are still many alive who regard Ukraine as their playground and they will be loth to let the Black Sea resorts out of their control-- all essentially built on Russian Mafia money .
