ukraine had been a declared non-alliance state since 2010, under the presidency of viktor yanukovych. at the end of that time they said basically that right, he's gone, viktor yanukovych's gone, we are in a position to declare non-aligned status. this is what they have done, it's left a door open for them to join n.a.t.o. russia's response has been quick to voice their concern. listen to the ward of dmitri medvedev. he is saying and chose his words carefully - an application for nato membership will turn ukraine into a potential military opponent for russia. so those are strong words. russia had been worried and continues to be worried about n.a.t.o.'s ongoing east wood expansion, and ukraine would be a former soviet state too far. >> where does it leave the peace talks that may take place as soon as tomorrow? >> i don't know. i think there's a lot of confusion in minsk and ukraine itself. petro porashenko announced in the last 12 hours that the talks will go ahead. but if you talk to the donetsk people's republic, the rebels who will be part of the talks, there doesn't seem to be a f

ing leading to a resignation of viktor yanukovych. started with backing pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine. robert cap lal kaplan, the chief strategy and why america was responding the way it was. >> russia comprises half the land mass, and yet has less population than bangladesh. putin knows it has been invaded by swedes, lithuanians and poles. foreign policy for russia is always looking for targets of opportunity not to recreate the soviet union. , soviet union collapsed because of the financial burden of actually ruling places like ukraine and the warsaw pacts what he wants to do is recreate the soviet sphere of influence. >> i think that's right. they have to worry about what might happen down the road. even if they don't face immediate dangers right now they have to wonder what might happen in the future. and remember, over the past 20 years, russia has seen nato gradually moving its borders easteastward. given that history and geographic location, i think the way about right and the contrast with the united states couldn

pro-russian president viktor yanukovych fled the capital and office. crimea and outraged president obama announced sweeping sanctions -- >> this is not our preferred outcome. these sanctions would not only have a significant impact on the russian economy but could also be disruptive to the global economy. >> reporter: to this day. president putin refuses to break with the pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine. and successive rounds of western sanctions totally tens of billions of dollars have taken their toll on the russian economy. >> the most important thing about sanctions is that right now they're preventing russia from renegotiating its $600 billion in debt. that's a big deal because as the ruble starts to lose value that becomes more and more oppressive as inflation rises. >> reporter: the crisis in ukraine took an even more grave turn when malaysia airlines flight 17 was shot out of the sky near the russian border. ukraine says it was a russian missile which brought the plane downment russia and the pro-russian separatists in control of the

weeks of protests led to the departure of pro-russian president viktor yanukovych. the e.u. and kiev wanted closer ties with europe. in response russia started to back pro-russian separatists. we talk to sieve ward, harvard professor. and robert kaplan a chief political strategist from springfield massachusetts - about what was at stake and why russia was responding the way it was. >> russia comprises half the long attitudes of the earth, yet it has less people than bangladesh. land powers are perennially insecure and rush say is the ultimate land power. vladimir putin nose that russia has been invaded not just by the germans and french but swedes lithuanians and polls. foreign policies are looking for targets of opportunity not to recreate the soviet union. vladimir putin is smart enough to know that the soviet union collapse because of the financial burden of ruling places like ukraine and warsaw packed places. he wants to recreate the soviet sphere of influence. that's right. if you look at russia's history and geographic situation, you have to worry about what might happ