It is reasonable for people and countries to want a buffer zone of security. The western neocons have pressed into Russia for three decades, thus creating problems. USA neocons have been making sport of pressing into Taiwan to aggravate China. Taiwan is non-negotiable for China, so the west would be safer by not putting military bases on an enemy's front door.

Ukraine borders Russia, so of course Russia wants a buffer from aggressors. People in Donbas were Russian and speak Russian, and Ukraine should honor the Minsk agreement and let them vote on their future.

Not at the expense of others. I fail to see why I should give up my freedoms, my language, culture and material possessions, and become a slave for Russians like my parents were in the USSR. How do you justify it? Are Russians a master race?