Redigerer Den russisk-ukrainske krisen 2021–2022 (avsnitt)

=== Relasjon til NATO ===
Russiske myndigheter har flere ganger uttalt at et mulig ukrainsk [[NATO]]-medlemskap, og NATOs utvidelse generelt, truer Russlands nasjonale sikkerhet.<ref>{{cite news|last=Paul|first=Taylor|date=2021-11-23|title=Ukraine: NATO's original sin|work=[[Politico]]|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-nato-georgia-europe-european-union-united-states/|quote=This Bucharest summit decision perhaps marked the culmination of the “unipolar moment,” when the U.S. believed it could reshape the world along Western lines, ignoring warnings by leaders like former French President Jacques Chirac, that “Russia should not be humiliated,” and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, that Moscow’s “legitimate security interests” should be taken into account. The result heightened Kremlin’s fears of encirclement and of losing the strategic depth that enabled Russia to prevail over Western invaders twice in two centuries — Napoleon in 1812 and Hitler from 1941 to 1945. It also failed to enhance the security of Georgia or Ukraine — no amount of assurances that NATO is not a threat to Russia, that its purpose is purely defensive or that none of its weapons would ever be used except in response to an attack could assuage Moscow.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Jonathan|first=Guyer|date=2022-01-27|title=How America's NATO expansion obsession plays into the Ukraine crisis|work=Vox|url=https://www.vox.com/22900113/nato-ukraine-russia-crisis-clinton-expansion|quote=Ukraine is a former Soviet republic. It isn’t joining NATO anytime soon, and President Joe Biden has said as much. Still, NATO’s open-door policy — the alliance’s foundational principle that any qualified European country could join — cuts both ways. To the West, it’s a statement of autonomy; to Russia, it’s a threat. The core of the NATO treaty is Article 5, a commitment that an attack on any country is treated as an attack on the entire alliance — meaning any Russian military engagement with a hypothetical NATO-member Ukraine would theoretically bring Moscow into conflict with the US, the UK, France, and the 27 other NATO members.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Matthew|first=Lee|last2=Lorne|first2=Cook|date=2022-01-07|title=US, NATO rule out halt to expansion, reject Russian demands|url=https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-emmanuel-macron-4b0815a24bb98ca7e3b81aa0dc6b1838|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124151428/https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-emmanuel-macron-4b0815a24bb98ca7e3b81aa0dc6b1838|archive-date=2022-01-24|access-date=2022-01-24|website=AP News|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|language=en|quote=Their comments amounted to a complete dismissal of a key part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands for easing tensions with Ukraine. Putin wants NATO to halt membership plans for all countries, including Ukraine. The former Soviet republic is unlikely to join the alliance in the foreseeable future, but NATO nations won’t rule it out.}}</ref> Ukraina og andre europeiske naboland til Russland har på sin side anklaget Putin for å prøve å gjenetablere det sovjetiske imperiet, og for å føre en aggressiv [[Militarisme|militaristisk]] politikk.<ref>{{Kilde www|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/13/putin-destroy-restore-soviet-union-ukraine-pm|tittel=Putin wants to destroy Ukraine and restore Soviet Union, says Yatseniuk|besøksdato=2022-02-12|dato=2014-09-13|etternavn=Agencies|språk=en|verk=the Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Kilde avis|tittel=Vladimir Putin: The rebuilding of ‘Soviet’ Russia|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26769481|avis=BBC News|dato=2014-03-28|besøksdato=2022-02-12|språk=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Kilde www|url=https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/ukraine-putin-russia-nato-20220111.html|tittel=Putin wants to reestablish the Russian empire. Can NATO stop him without war?|besøksdato=2022-02-12|fornavn=Trudy|etternavn=Rubin|språk=en|verk=|forlag=The Philadelphia Inquirer}}</ref><ref>{{Kilde www|url=https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1568409/lithuanian-president-russia-s-attempts-to-create-zones-of-influence-will-not-be-tolerated|tittel=Lithuanian president: Russia’s attempts to create ‘zones of influence’ will not be tolerated|besøksdato=2022-02-12|dato=2021-12-20|språk=en|verk=lrt.lt}}</ref><ref>{{Kilde avis|tittel=In push for equal NATO status, Poland asks for flashpoint troops|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nato-poland-suwalki-idUSKCN0Z61XH|avis=Reuters|dato=2016-06-20|besøksdato=2022-02-12|språk=en}}</ref>

I desember 2021 krevde Russland at NATO må stanse utvidelse østover, at tilbud om NATO-medlemskap til Ukraina og Georgia må trekkes tilbake, at NATO ikke skal utplassere styrker eller våpen i land uten slik før 1997 (det ville innebære uttrekking fra Polen, Tsjekkia, Latvia, Litauen, Estland, Bulgaria og Romania), at det ikke skal være militærøvelser nær Russlands grenser, at USA og Russland ikke skal ha atomvåpen utenfor egne grenser og ikke mellomdistanseraketter som kan nå motparten. Russland fremholdt at tidligere løfter gitt etter den kalde krigen ikke har blitt overholdt.<ref>{{Kilde www|url=https://www.nrk.no/urix/krigsfrykt-i-ukraina_-putins-argumenter-for-og-mot-a-angripe-1.15853618|tittel=Krigsfrykt i Ukraina: Putins argumenter for og mot å angripe|besøksdato=2024-01-16|dato=2022-02-14|fornavn=Jan Espen|etternavn=Kruse|språk=nb-NO|verk=NRK}}</ref>