Ukraine is not a member of NATO. Putin, long serving president of Russia, does not want Ukraine to EVER be a member of NATO. This may be related to the fact that he seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 after Ukraine voted for their own president who favored a closer connection with western Europe.

Now, Ukrainians and Russians are two separate peoples with two separate languages and a host of religious distinctions. It is like but distinct from the relationship between Ireland and England. There is a lot of cultural crossover and cultural 'take'over along with a lot of love and hate, including a shared history with a lot of bitterness and yet a lot of intermarriage.

But the distinctions remain. In the 80s I was at an aircraft convention visited by one of the second-largest cargo planes in the world, the Antonov 124. I tried to speak to the crew in Russian only to be told with a smile but firmly "we are all Ukrainians!".
There are many places in the U.S. and Canada with large Slavic populations, and while they will organize that way the cultural distinctions are never forgot.

There has been a low level war being waged by Russian imported militiamen that have kept the Ukrainians on a slow bleed. It seems to me along the lines of a fat playground bully grabbing a small child and telling him to "stop hitting yourself!"

Ukraine has its own problems but has been struggling with some success on getting itself out of the morass of political corruption that has embedded its much larger neighbor. But its paying the price in blood and land.

So Ukraine is on my mind tonight.