I was actually debating whether to mention Belarus, and edited it out to preserve space and get my point about dumb US political writing across. Thanks for chi

I was actually debating whether to mention Belarus, and edited it out to preserve space and get my point about dumb US political writing across. Thanks for chipping that in :) As far as joining the EU.. I think political concerns will rule the day as France/Germany/UK will have a compelling reason to consolidate the 'ukraine is not russia' fact on the ground. But who knows, I didn't get any guarantees with that crystal ball, it could be that concerns about a flood of ukrainian guest workers stop it from happening. Maybe they find a way to have a slower economic integration to lessen the shock, or maybe I had things flipped and Ukraine will join NATO before the EU. I'm reasonably sure, though, that the US/UK/FR/DE will be working together to marry Ukraine into the alliance some way or other.