Cue the spit-take:
The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday renounced Ukraine's "non-aligned" status with the aim of eventually joining NATO, angering Moscow which views the Western alliance's eastward expansion as a threat to its own security. ...
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Ukraine's renunciation of its neutral military and political status a "counterproductive" step that would only boost tensions around the crisis in the east.
The Russians do realize that by invading a country, taking their land, and continuing to try to pry apart the nation along ethnic fault lines that Russia is pretty much compelling Ukraine to align with someone other than Russia, right?
The Russians aren't really so dense that they think they have a valid point in complaining about Ukraine's natural reaction to Russian aggression, are they?
When the choice for Ukraine is between a prosperous West and a Russia that is dismembering Ukraine, why would Ukraine be "non-aligned" between the two?
I mean, Ukraine feels aligned enough to want to build an anti-tank obstacle on their border with Russia:
Ukraine's easterly Donetsk region, dominated by Russian-speakers and buffeted by rallies by pro-Russian activists, has built a defensive trench complete with concrete barriers along its long border with Russia, its governor said on Monday.
Russia has pretty much defined Ukraine's alignment without any legislation being responsible.
UPDATE: Russia increases the pressure along Ukraine's northern flank while Ukraine reminds Russia that the energy weapon works both ways for now:
On Wednesday, Ukraine briefly cut off power to Crimea, its former territory that Russia annexed earlier this year, while Russia reportedly plans a new air base in Belarus, north of Ukraine [at Babrujsk].
Russia is doing nothing to make Ukraine feel that anything but aligning with the West is the way to secure their independence.
