As Voltaire said, who can make you believe in absurd things, he can make you commit atrocities. The confirmation of these words in modern politics is the position of Russia in relation to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently lied three times, saying that, firstly, there are no Russian troops in the Donbass, secondly, the conflict in the east of Ukraine is a civil war, not Russian aggression, and thirdly, that to the collapse flight MN17 of the airline "Malaysia" in July 2014, the Russian military had nothing to do. All this is a blatant lie. And this fact can not be hidden, although the Kremlin has tried very hard, writes senior researcher of the Atlantic Council Steven Blank.

The lies of Lavrov and his government are so unchecked that many began to take it for granted, and Russia is perceived by a country for which lying has become a habitual matter. At the same time, Russia, according to her, is always a victim of someone else's activities.

But my goal is not only to point out that the Russian government and the media are constantly lying, but to show that, despite ongoing negotiations with US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker and the Norman Quartet, Moscow is not going to leave Donbass and return the Crimea. On the contrary, the Kremlin is building up its forces in the Crimea, sending more and more S-400 missiles. In addition, Moscow has consistently suppressed in Crimea everything that is somehow connected with independent Ukraine.

Russia refuses to accept agreements that would oblige the country to withdraw from the Donbass and return Ukraine to the Crimea. Moscow continues to insist that Ukraine follow the suicidal Minsk Agreements, which turns it into a confederation. The problem with Minsk-2 is that Russia does not even try to hide that it does not comply with Minsk agreements. Moscow still can not recognize that Ukraine is an independent, sovereign state. Authorities in Moscow are dreaming of an imperial state, to which all former Warsaw Pact countries must give up part of their sovereignty.

Since 1991, Russia has not had the opportunity to dominate in Eurasia, using peaceful or at least democratic means. Now even in Central Asia, local authorities are gradually winning more and more independence from Moscow. In addition, in that region, China is steadily replacing Russia. Lukashenka's President's Attempts to Usurp the Power. And the citizens of Ukraine, since 2004, will never agree that someone cuts the independence of their country, even despite the corruption of the Ukrainian government.

Thus, Russia can maintain its sphere of influence only through force, fraud or through subversion. And when someone, for example, Ukraine, declares its right to democracy, it is not surprising that the Kremlin regime, realizing that without imperial policy autocracy is under threat, resorts to violence. Therefore, we should not be surprised at the falsity of Putin's state and its propensity for violence. As Solzhenitsyn wrote, the one whose weapon is a lie invariably resorts to violence.

Now the fate of Ukraine is again connected with Russia.

Ukraine has for a long time lived within its borders, truncated by the war. But Russia can not allow peace in Ukraine, since, by annexing the Crimea and the Donbas, it dreams of an empire. In any case, in the near future in Ukraine there will be no war in the full sense of the word, no peace. The lies of Lavrov and Putin show that they can not recognize that the empire does not shine on them. And this only brings the collapse of their entire project closer. And this collapse will be tough.

Translation of HB.