To first understand the current situation, one has to know what is Nato, why the name Nato is seen in news related to this new world crisis? Nato aka North atlantic treaty organisation was formed by 12 Nations who were allies of America to bring peace after the second world war came to an end.
After the breakdown of Soviet Republic, Russia did’nt want Nato to expand its members around its border. It was agreed that Nato would not expand into the east Europe. But contrarily, countries that broke away from Soviet Union in 1991, one by one, over the years have joined the Nato. Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and lastly North Macedonia in 2020 became members of Nato. Ukraine also started showing interest to become part of Nato since 2008. But neither the European Union nor the Nato were ready to accept Ukraine for their own benefits.
Ukraine’s former President Victor Yanukovych who was elected in 2010, preferred to keep the country neutral and non aligned, but in 2014, following the Euromaidan unrest, he fled the country. But the current President Mr. Volodymir Zelesky, an actor turned politician had other plans. In 2014, Russia took over Crimea, a bordering state of Ukraine by referendum which was a democratic solution.
What exactly pushed Russia to take the extreme step now? Ukraine borders the west of Russia. If Ukraine became part of Nato, Russia’s strength against Nato and it’s allies will compromise Russia’s security. Though one can never support war on any grounds, the current scenario should be considered with a pinch of salt with a lot of grey area. Fortunately, the world is dealing with the issue with economic sanctions and not by deploying military in the battle ground.
Russia has always been on a good political relationship with India. During the 1971, Indo-Pak war, Russia came to India’s aid when America entered the Indian seas in support of Pakistan. Now, Russia has stopped the war temporarily to let the Indians cross the Ukranian border and enter Russia. A war free green zone has been created and 130 or so buses have been arranged by Russia for Indians to safely cross the border. It is seen as a good will gesture by Putin, strengthening its diplomatic ties with India. On the other hand, we are hearing accounts of Ukranian army kicking and treating Indian students badly by ones who have been evacuated safely from Ukraine.
But the war is not over, Putin has vowed to take all of Ukraine. We hope this war comes to an end soon.
Google, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and other social media platforms have closed their doors on Russia, but Elon musk has refused to do so. He has tweeted, that he had been approached by some Governments( not Ukraine) to block his news sources for Russia which he won’t do unless at gunpoint. He adds, that he is sorry to be a speech absolutist.