“We have spent centuries understanding the Russians. We still don't understand them. And they don't understand us either.”

We are all marked by the past. In what way does Russian history influence what we see in Ukraine now? 'In Russia's case, it's in particular because there are some abysmal differences between Russian history and our history, our political culture, our set of values and theirs. And we have a propensity, for many understandable reasons, to perceive Russians as Europeans, just like us. And they are also in many ways Europeans, although the nationali…