Roundup: Opinions on Ukraine from American and Foreign Media | Voice of America - English
The crisis in Ukraine has captured global attention and is generating a wide spectrum of opinion on its causes and solutions.
"Today, the people of Ukraine are united as never before in the idea of collective security and European values. We choose Western standards and reject this neo-Soviet imperialism. We will no longer play the game of 'older and younger brothers.' "Moscow must understand what we discovered at the Maidan in Kiev: the use of force will backfire and, more often than not, yield the opposite of what was intended. Ukraine and Russia are two sovereign states, and the Ukrainian people will determine their path independently. The refusal to accept this fact will lead, at the very least, to a new Cold War. "Ukraine is open to any constructive dialogue with the Russian Federation that is rooted in partnership. We wish to develop fair and mutually beneficial relations. Russia must choose how it will respond." "This was first evident in the way Putin talked about corruption. In his official autobiography, published in 2000, Putin told a joke in which and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev compare notes: "Both are embezzling, but Brezhnev embezzles twice as much, blatantly. This is the line Putin's officials have taken in response to all accusations of graft over the last 14 years: Corruption is endemic to all governments; Russian corruption is just less hypocritical. "For American culture, which relies heavily on a belief in the fundamental goodness of humanity, this is an impossible world view to absorb. It is another world indeed. But that does not make it crazy." "With elections approaching in both the European Union and the United States, it will be easy to shrink from measures that would command Mr. Putin’s attention. "Clearly he is counting on such a reaction. But the price of failing to take robust steps now will, in the end, be higher. "If Mr. Putin is not stopped in Crimea, he will set his sights on other parts of Ukraine and maybe other former Soviet bloc states with Russian minorities. That could lead not just to economic disruption but also to war."