More on Russia and Ukraine Mending Fences

This article from the December 29 edition of the online The Times (from London) talks about the efforts to mend fences between Ukraine and Russia following the latter's attempts to disrupt the elections in Ukraine. Most interesting to me was this, quoting a Kremlin functionary:

An economic adviser to the Kremlin said yesterday that the vote was a wake-up call for Russia. “Ukraine is our most important partner in showing us that we can get rid of our complex about empire,” Andrei Illarionov said.

“Russia cannot become truly democratic and develop economically unless it ceases to be an empire.

Governments and nations that impose themselves on others can never be truly free themselves. They must always watch their backs, always deal with the human and financial expenses of maintaining their dominance, and risk exposing the fact that even if it's not true that the 'emperor has no clothes,' he certainly is vulnerable.