Putin's grand dream...and grand mistake

"Putin's grand dream and the prime directive of Russian foreign policy is to create something that he calls the "Eurasian Union." From Moscow's point of view, Russia is far too important a country to simply join the European Union, as if Russia were Poland or the Czech Republic. Putin means for Russia to create its own union, a reconstituted Russian empire founded on the political and economic system now in place in Russia. The grand dream is off to a slow start. To date, Russia has managed to assemble only a customs union involving Kazakhstan and Belarus, both of which are reluctant to deepen political ties with the Kremlin....  

This is the importance of Ukraine. In 1991, Russians understood that without Ukraine, there was no Soviet Union. Today, without Ukraine, there is no Eurasian Union, no empire worthy of the name. Herein lies Putin's mistake."

Souirce: "A wary Asia watches as Russia overreaches" by Ian Bremmer, Nikkei Asian Review

Also - "After Crimea, Putin Is Going to Take Eastern Ukraine - Geography demands it" by Julia Ioffe