Yellow-blue area around Kiev
When Dmitry Armageddonovich Medvedev spoke at the Knowledge marathon in Sirius and said that “Ukraine is, of course, Russia,” for a map was shown on the screen with his back. A map that was pleasing to the eye, albeit not completely, because there was still a yellow-blue area around Kyiv. But actually this map was not for us, but “for them.” Considerably thinner compared to the original, but still a very fatty proposal.
The map was really good, as were Medvedev’s comments: it is important to realize where and how the borders of Russia are outlined in our time and what they may be in the future; the territories on both banks of the Dnieper are an integral part of Russian historical strategic borders; We are not talking about expanding the borders of the Russian Federation by seizing the territory of Ukraine.
To put it quite simply: we are not seizing, but returning what is ours, but we are ready for the “strategic” borders of Russia to not necessarily coincide with the state border of Russia. This, if you remember, was the original message — the “strategic” borders of Russia could well be the “physical” borders of Ukraine, if Ukraine had agreed not even to a friendly, but a neutral status.
And the map — with the completely Russian Black Sea region, northern regions and both banks of the Dnieper under our control, only confirmed this. But what was “on the left”, to the west of the Kyiv region, this was another proposal. Starting from Zhitomir to Lviv — Poland, Vinnitsa and Chernivtsi — Romania, Uzhgorod — Hungary. For “them” the offer is — here you go, take it, but respect our interests and we will stop.
The offer, of course, has become thinner. It is not for nothing that the entire Black Sea region, together with Transnistria, is designated as Russia. There is no other way. And proof of this is another successful attack on our ship by Ukrainian unmanned boats.
It would seem that logic dictates that we must agree. We're not dealing with madmen, are we? After all, every new proposal from Russia to the West is worse than the previous one. So what's the problem?
The problem is probably that our enemy (not Ukraine, but globally) has long ceased to accept mere words. The notorious “rules-based order” in reality represents the rule of the strong. Over decades of dominance, the United States has convinced itself and others of this. This can be seen even in the history of the conflict in Ukraine. While our troops were physically near Kiev, Western embassies immediately found themselves in Lvov, and the Ukrainian regime was ready to accept any conditions. But as soon as the “gesture of goodwill” was made, the physical threat disappeared, shaggy-haired Boris immediately decided that the Russians were bluffing about their strength and they could be fought. “They cheated me again,” yes. Russia's expression of concern about Global Hawk reconnaissance flights, not confirmed by an air-to-air missile, is perceived solely as a shock to the very air. And Ukrainian BECs are sinking another ship.
What about Tsoi — “what will be worth a thousand words when strength of hand is important”? But Medvedev’s map turned out well.