Watch above: a forum at the U of S looks at the Ukraine crisis and implications on world politics
SASKATOON – A University of Saskatchewan (U of S) expert held a public forum on Tuesday to help explain the crisis in Ukraine and its implications on world politics.
Over the past 25 years, U of S political studies associate professor Dr. Greg Poelzer has visited Russia 30 times and worked extensively with Russian indigenous and educational institutions in the field of capacity building.
Poelzer put a different spin on the Crimea crisis, looking at the current situation in Ukraine through Russian eyes.
“I think we got to take into consideration the historical context, the cultural context, economic and geopolitical context,” said Poelzer.
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IN DEPTH: Ukraine crisis
Crimea was a part of Russia from 1753 to 1954 and still has a large Russian population.
“Whether it’s right or not that Russia went into Crimea, I think we need to pay attention especially when people like Mikhail Gorbachev say what Putin did was correcting a wrong in history that we need to pay attention more, what are Russian motivations behind their actions,” said Poelzer.
Tuesday’s presentation in front of a packed auditorium in Saskatoon raised some eyebrows.
“You get a stronger sense of how it affects their pride and nationalism and how they don’t view it as invasion and more as taking back something that belonged to them historically,” said Arman Navidi, an arts & science student.
READ MORE: Canada worried about ‘serious possibility’ of Russian invasion in Ukraine within week
“I think we have to reflect and understand the perspectives from Ukraine and the perspectives from Russia and perhaps it will allow Canada to do what Canada does best is help find a path forward here peacefully,” said Mike Cey, an Ag-West Bio employee at the forum.
That may be easier said than done with Russian troops lining the border.
“I think there’s a 50/50 chance that eastern Ukraine will one day be part of Russia proper and it could happen a couple of ways depending on volatility of the situation in Ukraine itself depending on how the west reacts with Russia and Russia’s response,” said Poelzer.
There’s a strong interdependence between Russia and Ukraine. Two-thirds of Russia’s oil and gas that flows to the European Union goes through Ukrainian territory.
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