Below we publish a statement from his book "The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and. its Geo-strategic Imperatives" by. Zbigniew Brzezinski, former member of US government, which was published in 1997. This tells it as it is, regarding the present turmoil in Ukraine and it is very nightmarishly relevant.

"Geopolitical pivots are the states whose importance is derived not from their power and motivation but rather from their sensitive location and from the consequences of their potentially vulnerable condition for the behavior of geo-strategic players. Most often, geopolitical pivots are determined by their geography, which in some cases gives them a special role in either defining access to important areas or in denying resources to a significant player.

Ukraine, Azerbaijan, South Korea, Turkey and Iran play the role of critically important geopolitical pivots.

Ukraine is a new and a very important space on the Eurasian chessboard and it is a geopolitical pivot, because of its very existence as an independent country helps to transform Russia. Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a power. Russia without Ukraine can still strive for world status, but it then would become a predominately Asian imperial state, more likely to be drawn into debilitating conflicts with aroused Central Asians, who would then be supported by their fellow Islamic states to the south.

However, if Russia manages now to regain control of Ukraine, with its 52 million people and major resources as well as access to the Black Sea, Russia automatically again regains the position to become a powerful state, spanning Europe and Asia.

Ukraine's determination to preserve its independence was encouraged and helped by external support. In July of 1996 the US Secretary of Defense declared: "I cannot overestimate the importance of Ukraine as an independent country, away from Russia and involved in the former USSR, for the stability of all of Europe." German Chancellor went even further when he sated: "Ukraine's firm place in Europe can no longer be challenged by anyone. Without Ukraine the Commonwealth of Independent States (formerly USSR) is not a viable option. A Russian empire without Ukraine would undoubtedly mean that Russia would become more "Asianized" and more remote from Europe."

The countries deserving America's strongest geopolitical support are Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan... all of them being geo-politically pivotal. Indeed, Kiev's role reinforces the argument that Ukraine is a critical state, insofar as Russia's future is concerned.

For Ukraine, the future character of the present CIS –- is for freer access to the energy sources, which would lessen Ukraine's dependence on Russia. That is why Ukraine, at our urging and help, has supported Georgia's efforts to become the westward route for the Azerbaijan oil exports. Ukraine also is collaborating with Turkey in order to weaken Russia’s influence in the Black Sea and has supported Turkish efforts to direct the oil flows from Central Asia to the Turkish terminals.