To me, your preferred solution (and Scott's) is also not on the high road either. The Ukrainians do not want Russians to occupy them again. But I guess if you guys are OK with this outcome, it still belongs in the course of public discussion.
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Two decades I used to follow Ukrainian politics more closely than I do today. I seem to have missed an important cultural transition.
The Russian speakers in Ukraine come in two distinct demographics. First are the ethnic Russians who or whose ancestors came Russia proper. They were offered higher societal positions than had they stayed in Russia. The second group are the Ukrainian who adopted Russian as their family/working language as it meant more opportunities to be fluent in Russian. But this group usually identified itself as Ukrainian even though many do not speak Ukrainian any more.
When I was in Ukraine, there was a lot of agitation from many Russian speakers who were opposed to the Ukrainian government making Ukrainian the #1 language in Ukraine. This pretext was used by the Kremlin to interfere in east European politics to protect this minority. Many of the ethnic Russian were wanting a return to Russian rule.
And then I kind of fell away from whatever demographic trends were happening. I have asked several Russian/Ukrainian commentators about this matter--and they don't seem to knowledgeable about the times of Russian agitation in Ukraine was well known.
But by Russians-in-Ukraine actions, I think I am coming to a reasonable conclusion. The cities of Kharkiv, Kherson, and Odessa have a large Russian speaking population, probably a majority. If they still harboring favoritism for Russia, these cities would have made it difficult for Ukraine to hold them. In other words, the Russian speakers in Ukraine are now showing preference for keeping Ukraine independent of Russia. The agitators are no longer a serious political force.
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So yes, the Russian hegemony must be cast aside.
So too must be the American hegemony. In my opinion, the IMF is an economic tool for the uber-rich. Very likely, Sri Lanka is being sold off to foreign investors these days.
https://medium.com/politically-speaking/book-review-the-shock-doctrine-524e171b782b
But tackling this rogue bureaucracy is something for another time. Tackling the Russian hegemony is within reach.
But we won't get rid of the IMF until we change out our democracy. Until then, we will be putting out fires and fires. Some time must be dedicated to building the new democracy.
