Here's What Russian Elites Really Think is Going On in Ukraine
They think its a plot by Washington directed at Russia intended to cause rifts between Russia and Ukraine and Russia and Europe. Introduction by Russia Insider: This article, with its extensive quotations from an interview by the well-known Russian economist Sergei Glazyev, is a rare example of a fair-minded western explanation of the Russian view of the Ukrainian crisis. Glazyev's views on this are very widespread among the Russian elite, and it is fair to say, are a very accurate reflection of what Russian elites believe. The article grasps that for the Russians the key fact of the Ukrainian crisis is not Ukraine’s association agreement with the EU or Crimea’s unification with Russia or the uprising in the Donbas. It is the violent and unconstitutional overthrow with western support of the democratically elected government of Ukraine led by Viktor Yanukovych. For the Russians what has followed since: Crimea’s secession and its reunion with Russia and the civil war in the east, are the natural outcome of that event. The extracts in the article from Glazyev’s interview shows how many Russians see the Ukrainian crisis as ultimately directed at themselves – as an attempt by the US to draw them into war and to obstruct the development of their economy and society by creating divisions between Russia and Ukraine and between Russia and Europe. This article originally appeared in Washington's Blog.
