As I have long argued, Russia was never likely to yield. After being pushed to the wall by more than two decades of Western expansion – be it European Union or NATO enlargement – into a part of Europe that it considers vital to its national security, Russians believe that they have the moral high ground in defending their interests.
我早就提出，俄罗斯绝不可能屈服。二十多年来，西方——不管是欧盟还是北约——逐渐扩大到俄罗斯视为国家安全腹地的地区，把俄罗斯逼到了墙角，俄罗斯人认为他们占有捍卫自身利益的道德高点。