Quotable notes

"... Many years ago the Russians accepted - at first reluctantly - the reality of Poland's complete independence. That was a hard process for them.

"I guess it's hard for them to accept the reality of Ukraine's complete independence. In a sense it's even harder than in Poland's case.

"A lot of Russians regard Ukrainians as their younger brothers. One day they learned that Ukrainians aren't their younger brothers and that they're getting up on their feet. They realized that Ukrainians have a political culture that's more advanced than the Russian one; you can figure out your problems in a democratic manner; you can preserve democracy while solving problems. ...

"I think that the Russians find it hard to reconcile themselves with the idea of Ukraine as a mature and independent European country, not a province.

"But changes will take place, just like they happened between Russia and Poland. I believe that Russia and Ukraine should have good relations. They are very close and interconnected, yet these relations must be based on respect and recognition of mutual independence. All this will happen. I'm convinced that Russia will also change. ..."

- Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. national security advisor, adviser to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University, in an interview with Serhiy Solodky of the newspaper Den (The Day), December 13, 2005.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 1, 2006, No. 1, Vol. LXXIV

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