Even though federation has led to racists and/or NATO defenders showing up, I've also encountered a number if very cool people from other instances posting things like helpful advice on federation stuff, vivid descriptions of getting vored by a pack of anthro-hyenas, interesting insights and opinions on Star Trek lore, etc. I still haven't found much in the way of active hobby communities, but it's pretty cool to see more Star Trek and furry stuff in the timeline, and I feel it makes having to deal with the occasional deranged lib worth it.
Anyways, to all the genuinely cool people who wander into Hexbear threads, I'm very glad you've showed up to bless us with your wonderful posts and I hope you stick around.
There is nothing in Russia’s actions that supports this.
If you look at the events leading up to the 2013 Maidan coup, it was very clear that the main wedge issue was the existing tariff-free agreement between Russia and Ukraine and with Ukraine signing the EU Association Agreement, it would open up the floodgates for EU goods to enter Russian market but not the reverse.
Putin did not object to Ukraine signing the deal with EU, simply that they had to work out the tariff issue, and if not, then Ukraine would lose its tariff-free status with Russia, which means a massive loss in trade revenue for Ukraine since Russia was its main trading partner. Putin wanted to talk with both Ukraine and EU but the EU said no, which led to Yanukovych delayed signing the deal with EU because he needed more time to work this out with Moscow - and by then the fascists coup had already been mounted.
What people don’t understand is that the EU Association Agreement was an economic warfare against both Russia (destroying Russia’s domestic industry) and Ukraine (forcing IMF loans and austerity on them).
The 2014 sanctions imposed on Russia due to its annexation of Crimea had effectively erased Russia’s economic growth of the 2000s, why would any country want to do that to itself?
At the end of the day, Russia is yet just another neoliberal state that wanted a stronger business tie with the EU, it doesn’t want to deal with Ukraine’s shit. The Western hegemon did not want Russia to be part of it, and especially with the cheap natural gas Russia was selling Germany and their increasing partnership that had seriously threatened America’s hegemony in Europe. And so, Maidan had to happen. Ukraine war has to happen.
Thank you for this.