https://video.echelon.pl/videos/watch/566c44ca-86c0-4101-91f9-ead22dcaa99f Putin now claims that 'everything in Ukraine started with their attempt to join the European Union', while making a thinly veiled threat in response to Armenia's similar plans. As a reminder, back in 2014, Russian propaganda launched a massive anti-Ukrainian campaign, inventing fantastic stories about 'biolabs', 'NATO bases' and the 'genocide of Russians', while denying that it opposes Ukraine's EU membership. In 2013, there was no discussion about Ukraine's EU membership; only an Association Agreement was due to be signed. However, this was cancelled at the last moment after Yanukovych's secret meeting with Putin, which directly triggered the Euromaidan protests. Since 2022, the Russian authorities have changed their position several times, sometimes stating that they do not oppose Ukraine's EU membership and presenting NATO membership as a "security problem". In reality, Ukraine's EU membership is an existential problem for Putin personally, and for no one else. He has failed to deliver on all his socio-economic promises, most notably the 2012 'May decrees', which he introduced with hard KPIs in an attempt to convince Russians that his illegal third presidential term would actually benefit them. Putin's chronic failure to implement systemic reforms is increasingly exposed as neighbouring countries such as Poland develop economically. Allowing the same in Ukraine would be the last straw for Russians, whose primary moral compass seems to be the idea that 'we're living in a stagnating autocracy, but at least we're suffering together with Belarusians and Ukrainians'. Mon, 11 May 2026 21:44:39 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://video.echelon.pl https://video.echelon.pl/client/assets/images/icons/icon-512x512.png https://video.echelon.pl/videos/watch/566c44ca-86c0-4101-91f9-ead22dcaa99f All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://video.echelon.pl/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.