Vladimir Putin in Vox Media

On Homeland Security: Ukraine and Georgia in NATO is threat to Russia

The prospect of Ukraine and Georgia joining NATO has antagonized Putin at least since President George W. Bush expressed support for the idea in 2008. "That was a real mistake," said the ambassador to Ukraine under President Bill Clinton. "It drove the Russians nuts. It created expectations in Ukraine and Georgia, which then were never met. And so that just made that whole issue of enlargement a complicated one."

On Homeland Security: 2013 Euromaidan protests: dangerous Ukraine nationalism

"Radicals and nationalists, including and primarily those in Ukraine, are taking credit for having gained independence," he says. Russian control over Ukraine, he argues, has been replaced by a different kind of foreign rule: that of the West. After the 2013 Euromaidan protests, which toppled pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych, "Ukraine itself was placed under external control--a colony with a puppet regime."

A Western-backed government, Putin warns, threatens the very survival of the Russian state. He warns of Ukraine acquiring nuclear weapons with Western assistance, joining NATO, and ultimately serving as a launching pad for an American assault on Russia.