As a short term missionary who founded several media projects in Russia and Ukraine, I have spent a total of several months in both countries on 12 trips. A friend of mine, who was born and lived in Kiev his entire life, has written the following. ~ Jay Rogers

KIEV, Ukraine – Forerunner – In my opinion, all Russia wants is to preserve the situation with its security on the same level as was guaranteed in the 1970s and 1980s. Namely, NATO nations and Russia will not place nuclear weapons near each other’s borders. Putin wants to reinstate the SALT I and II Agreements on short and mid-range missiles, counter-missile defense, and stop further NATO expansion into Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.

In addition, something that might amaze Americans, is that Russia wants the Ukraine to be a truly independent and friendly neighbor country with strong trade ties – not a poor, hostile state at their fence – not a nation that is only alive because of constant IMF loans – not a nation that harbors 15 U.S. biological laboratories near Russia’s borders (which make God knows what?) since 2003.

Americans ought to know that Ukraine is totally dependent on Russian coal (used locally to generate electricity) and direct electrical power from Belarus and Russia. Ukraine imports near 40% of its gasoline and 70% of diesel fuel from Russia and Belarus (made of Russian oil), not to mention uranium for local nuclear power plants.

Russia wants Ukraine to be something like Mexico or Canada is to the United States, not an enemy allied with the Cold War organization NATO. It’s that simple. They also want the United States to stop fueling anti-Russian coups in Ukraine (such as the so-called “Maidan” movement here, although the west called the coup of 2014 the “Dignity Revolution”). Putin also demands some other concessions – nothing special or unreasonable.

The occupation of the Ukraine is the western narrative about the plan of Russian aggression, not the Russian plan for the Ukraine. Who needs a country with a degraded economy and infrastructure, an old energy sector, a national debt close to 100% of its GDP, a hostile and rapidly aging population, and the eastern provinces destroyed by close to a decade of civil war? The western plan is to impute to Russia the motive of the invasion and occupation of Ukraine as a constant mantra. The plan is to take care of the failed state of Ukraine while imposing further sanctions on the emerging economy of Russia, which might lead to a further disintegration of Russia into 10 to 20 “independent” states who will join the “family of Western socialist democracies.” Thus Russia will be kept apart from China as a close partner.

And finally, if Russia is torn apart – it will be a piece of cake to destroy China as the only remaining military and economic competitor to the United States.

However, Russia learned this lesson the hard way in the 1990s after seeing what happened when the Soviet Union collapsed and how the West reacted afterward in “New World Order” military actions in Yugoslavia and the Middle East. Putin is working to be sure that there will be no more lessons like that.

Thomas Ertl wrote: “Russia had an empire once. It does not seek another one, but they would like to have security for their people from the nations to the West” (The Ukraine Crisis: Facts Versus Lies).

And that’s the main reason why Russia hasn’t been left alone. All that Russian folk want is to live peacefully and resolve the problems they already have. (And trust me there are a lot of them.)

Make no mistake about it, countries like the United States, China and Russia will always be tough competitors simply because their interests might and will conflict. But they need not be enemies. Note also that China is a much greater threat to Russia than the United States and all the other NATO countries combined. This is not recognized by the media, but it is a fact.

The Ukraine vs. Russia conflict/escalation is an obvious attempt to dissolve the latter using a Cold War anti-USSR strategy. This won’t work. To the contrary, this only pushes Russia and China to embrace even more strongly. In my view, that ought to be the most controversial outcome to be considered.

“The Ukraine” (liberals chafe at the use of the definite article) is an old word meaning “the borderland” or “far territory.” It was never applied seriously to our region until the 19th century. However, modern Ukraine is something sacred for all traditional values holding, Russian-speaking Christians. It is our cradle of our civilization, the place of the oldest Slavic city of Kiev, the place from which Christianity spread throughout the region, the place from where our ancestors fled to the north from the Turkish and Mongol invasions.

Naturally, turning the Ukraine into a military anti-Russian citadel is not only dangerous, but also senseless and offensive. Note that a lot of families have relatives who live in both Russia and Ukraine. Despite the insistence by pro-Western local media, about 50 percent of the Ukrainian population uses the Russian language daily at home or the office. However, you cannot find a school where a child is able to have their education in their native Russian language. You can’t address anyone in Russian if you work in a private restaurant, shop, cafe, etc. Is anything like this possible in Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, Spain, Holland and many other countries who have more than one official language?

Yes, there are four western regions of the Ukraine (out of 24) where the language is predominant. There are a few more where it is used by more than 50% of people. But the rest of the regions are not like this. In Eastern and Southern Ukraine, the vast majority speaks Russian. Why aggravate this situation?

Why not use the opportunity afforded in the 1990s when Russians were in agreement to be the brother of the United States and the West? Why is the west now rejecting the hand with an offer to be equal partners? Only Hillary Clinton and bunch of old homosexuals from D.C. know.

The United States is not what it was 30 years ago and neither is Russia or Ukraine. Many of our people are deeply shocked by what has happened in your country recently – the BLM gang violence, the “free” city of Seattle, persecution of Republicans, shameful presidential elections. Meanwhile, most Russians vote for Putin because they see no alternative and he will win the office of president if he decides to run again in 2024.