What was the role of NATO and Europe in the crisis according to each side? Background With the dissolution of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1991, the former Soviet republics, including Ukraine, Georgia and Russia, became independent states. The breakup of the USSR also meant the end of its superpower status; the world moved into an era with one superpower: the United States. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), led by the United States, expanded east to include former Soviet Republics (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) and former Warsaw Pact members (such as Poland and Hungary). Russian President from 1991-99, Boris Yeltsin, named Vladimir Putin, former KGB (Soviet secret police) officer, as his anointed successor. He won presidential elections in 2000, 2004, 2012 and 2018 and served as Prime Minister from 2008-12 to avoid the two-term limit on the presidency. Putin has been much more assertive of Russian rights and power than his predecessor. For example, Putin ordered the invasion to Georgia in 2008 in order to protect Russian citizens and the recognition of two Georgian provinces as independent states, acts condemned by the United States, European Union, and NATO. The immediate crisis in Ukraine began with the Ukrainian Revolution of February 2014 that culminated in the ouster of the pro-Russian president and his replacement by a pro-Western interim government in the capital Kiev. Russia deemed the revolution as a coup d’état and launched the covert invasion and annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula ostensibly to protect Russian citizens and an important naval base there. Pro-Russian protestors in eastern Ukraine also opposed the February revolution and declared themselves independent states of Donetsk and Luhansk. The government in Kiev did not recognize the new states and attempted to recover the territories by force; the conflict ended with a ceasefire agreed in September. Kiev and the West accused Russia of arming the rebels and sending in soldiers, a claim that Russia denies.
What was the role of NATO and Europe in the crisis according to each side?
Background
With the dissolution of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1991, the former Soviet republics, including Ukraine, Georgia and Russia, became independent states. The breakup of the USSR also meant the end of its superpower status; the world moved into an era with one superpower: the United States. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), led by the United States, expanded east to include former Soviet Republics (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) and former Warsaw Pact members (such as Poland and Hungary). Russian President from 1991-99, Boris Yeltsin, named Vladimir Putin, former KGB (Soviet secret police) officer, as his anointed successor. He won presidential elections in 2000, 2004, 2012 and 2018 and served as Prime Minister from 2008-12 to avoid the two-term limit on the presidency. Putin has been much more assertive of Russian rights and power than his predecessor. For example, Putin ordered the invasion to Georgia in 2008 in order to protect Russian citizens and the recognition of two Georgian provinces as independent states, acts condemned by the United States, European Union, and NATO.
The immediate crisis in Ukraine began with the Ukrainian Revolution of February 2014 that culminated in the ouster of the pro-Russian president and his replacement by a pro-Western interim government in the capital Kiev. Russia deemed the revolution as a coup d’état and launched the covert invasion and annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula ostensibly to protect Russian citizens and an important naval base there. Pro-Russian protestors in eastern Ukraine also opposed the February revolution and declared themselves independent states of Donetsk and Luhansk. The government in Kiev did not recognize the new states and attempted to recover the territories by force; the conflict ended with a ceasefire agreed in September. Kiev and the West accused Russia of arming the rebels and sending in soldiers, a claim that Russia denies.
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