In the Commonwealth of the Independent States, which belonged to the former Soviet Union, the issues between the Soviet Union and East European countries and those between the Soviet Union and West European countries have returned as destabilizing factors.

Hungary shrank by two-thirds after the World War I, and Poland lost part of its territory, regained it between the wars only to lose it again in World War II. Germany, too, has unresolved territorial issues and the Ukrainian crisis has exacerbated them all.

Within the EU, some significant people urged Ukraine to "accept the reality." They suggested Ukrainians focus on the territory they still hold, instead of fighting a long but probably futile war trying to regain all the territories in the eastern part. What's more, even if they win, they will have to rebuild the cities that have been turned into ruins.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has clearly stated that it was a tragedy Hungary lost so much of its territory after World War I. Some of the land that once belonged to Hungary is now in the Ukraine and some in part of Slovakia, Serbia and Romania. If Ukraine really split up, Poland might even be tempted to try and recover Lvov.

So, what is Putin really up to in all this? Firstly, he wants to increase the use and popularity of the ruble and enhance the competitiveness of Russian products. In order to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), Russia had to lower many tariffs. A mass of European products, including auto parts, poured into Russia. Now, Russian-made cars are rarely seen in the streets. Those running around are all cars from Germany, the U.S. and Japan.

The food industry is also dominated by European products. Even people's savings are mainly deposited in U.S dollars although the ruble deposit rate is above six percent in general, rising to 10 plus percent now. If people could increase their deposit of rubles and usage of ruble increases in trade between Russia and Asia-Pacific, a ruble area in Russia will come into reality.

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