Of course Russia routinely violates peace agreements with its neighbors. That doesn't mean these agreements don't have a significance in another, more psycholo

Of course Russia routinely violates peace agreements with its neighbors. That doesn't mean these agreements don't have a significance in another, more psychological sense. In particular, that significance is: "See? We got you to think you can feel safe in exchange for swallowing your pride and making major concessions to us. Then we attacked you again anyway. Now you're really our bitch." It is something western elite can't understand. Dividing the world between east and west, or thinking "westerners think in such-and-such way, they'll never understand our situation" -- is exactly the mind trap that Putin and the secessionists in eastern Ukraine would love to have everyone fall in.