Bridging The Gulf

From the DW:
"The vast gulf between Russians and Ukrainians"

 

                                   

 

 

Russia has been sending conciliatory signals to Kyiv, but many Ukrainians are skeptical. The general consensus among Ukrainians is that a revival of the old friendship with Moscow will be difficult.  The gigantic metal rainbow still stands on the hilly bank of the Dnipro River in Kyiv. Built during the Soviet era, the monument is a reminder of the "union of Ukraine with Russia" in 1654, when Ukrainian Cossacks sought protection from the czar in Moscow. Since the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the war in eastern Ukraine, the monument pays tribute to something that no longer exists: friendship between the two countries. The sculpture shows solidarity between a Russian and a Ukrainian. Today, the base of the monument is adorned by obscene words directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin. Serhiy Zelowalnik would like to have the arch demolished. "What kind of a friendship is it, when Russian troops have come here with tanks," defiantly states the former chief architect of the Ukrainian capital in an interview with DW in September 2015. However, authorities in Kyiv have probably decided that the monument – "the yoke" as the people derisively refer to it – should stay there. In the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, however, a column symbolizing Russian-Ukrainian friendship was dismantled in November. Yet the Russian side has been increasingly sending signals of reconciliation to Kyiv. "In the end, normal relations between our countries will certainly be restored," said Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Russian Security Council and Putin confidante, on Tuesday in a newspaper interview. Similar messages were also heard from the Kremlin and from the Russian foreign ministry. "Moscow is ready for a constructive dialogue with Kyiv." In the core issues, however, Russia remains adamant: the status of Crimea is not negotiable. At the end of December a "page of friendship" went online in Russia. The URL already suggests that Russians and Ukrainians are one people (www.we-are-one.ru) and should thus put conflicts aside. The page portrays itself as a platform "without politics and propaganda" and promotes a direct dialogue with citizens. It is unclear who is behind the project – there is no site notice on the website.  Russian embassies in Ukraine still encounter great suspicion. "What friendship with Russia?" criticized a popular Ukrainian blogger at the beginning of January. "Look at our men who have lost arms and legs in this war! Stop looking at Russia as a 'brother nation'." Quite a few people in Ukraine agree with the young Kyiv poet, Anastasia Dmytruk. Her poem addressing Russians after the Crimean annexation called "We will never be brothers" is still very popular in the country. The video of Dmytruk reciting the poem has been viewed on YouTube over six million times. Volodymyr Paniotto does not believe that the Ukrainians will soon love the Russians again. "This is a very difficult process," said the director of the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KMIS). Too much damage has been done. According to his institute's survey, the Ukrainians' positive attitude toward Russia declined dramatically after the annexation of Crimea: from 78 percent in February 2014 to 30 percent in May 2015. At first glance it may seem all the more surprising that the negative attitude towards the other side in Russia is even more pronounced than in Ukraine. In a recent survey conducted by Moscow's Levada Center, 59 percent of Russians said their perception of Ukraine is negative. Only 27 percent disagreed. The reason for this was Russian propaganda against Ukraine and the people who live there, says Lev Gudkov, head of the center. The Moscow sociologist views recent Russian overtures to Ukraine as a tactical maneuver. "I believe that these signals are a game, an attempt to soften the West's sanctions and the pressure on Russia," says Gudkov, "it does not help resolve the confict with Ukraine."

 

^ It took years and sometimes decades for Europeans to trust the Germans after World War 2, but now the majority are part of the European Union, which Germany basically runs, and things seem to have turned out well. It took about 20 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union for countries in Eastern Europe that was once dominated and occupied by the Soviets to start to trust Russia (the sole successor of the USSR) and now all that has gone downhill with the Crimea Crisis and the Donbass War. The Ukraine has had to overcome its Soviet history, the effects of Chernobyl, several violent demonstrations, and invasion/occupation and annexation of part of their territory as well as a war in the eastern part of their country while at the same time trying to reform their laws, end corruption, improve their economy and enhance bilateral ties with other countries. Do I believe that Russia and the Ukraine will improve their countries' ties? If Russia returns the Crimea and stops supporting the ethnic Russians fighting in eastern Ukraine then I think the Ukrainians will be willing to open themselves back to things Russian. Until that happens I only see the Ukraine moving further out of the "Russian sphere of influence" and towards the EU/US. That would make Russia even more paranoid than they already are, but right now it's the Ukraine's only chance of survival since they are a small country trying to keep their independence while one of the largest countries in the world attacks them. The ball is now in Russia's court. They can easily end all of this violence and insecurity if they really wanted to. ^ 

http://www.dw.com/en/the-vast-gulf-between-russians-and-ukrainians/a-19010637