The next 'buffer state' after hypothetical UA fall is Poland, and make no mistakes about it - Poles will move to blowing up German infrastructure in retaliation this time around. You can pull Ribbentrop-Molotov only once. Majority of Poles know where Schroder is now and who he has been working for the last 25 years.

So Yes, Germany can dream of appeasing Russia by risking internal EU war with Poland.