Ukraine Crisis summary

Since long before protests erupted in 2014, Ukraine has struggled with political and economic problems. Much of its trouble has to do with its location: Ukraine is wedged between Russia and Western Europe.

Unsurprisingly, Russia has a long history of intervention in Ukraine. Recently, the country has sought to reassert its control in the region, following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Ukraine however depends heavily on Russia's gas and oil reserves. Russia is well aware of this imbalance, and could easily drive Ukraine into bankruptcy by raising the price of fossil fuels. This position gives Russia a lot of leverage over its neighbor.

Russia has also funded certain Ukrainian politicians, who advocate political agendas written by Moscow, stressing pro-Russian and anti-Western actions.

On the other “side,” European Union countries also work to influence events in Ukraine. In 2008, the country began negotiations over an association agreement, a treaty with the European Union that creates a framework for strengthening Ukraine's political and economic ties with the West – much to Russia's chagrin.

The power of both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been increasing, expanding eastward after the fall of the Iron Curtain. These two groups have brought more and more of Russia's former allies, such as Poland and the Baltics, into their fold.

Russia, in turn, has tried to aggressively guard its former sphere of influence.

This has put the European Union in an uncomfortable position. Member states have cut back on military spending while Russia is rearming – so provoking conflict is a dangerous game. And like Ukraine, the European Union also depends on a steady supply of Russian fossil fuels.

For some time, the strategy of the European Union was to simply ignore Ukraine’s growing predicament. Unfortunately, this ended up only making things worse.