Also, by bolstering its military presence there, Russia is now becoming another military factor that should be taken seriously into account especially from the perspective of NATO’s southern flank, as it may influence the future military balance of the easternMediterranean.
As you may remember, Russia has first reacted to the West's policies by destabilizing Ukraine and used this crisis to expand the Russian influence towards Eastern Europe, Black Sea and Western Asia.
Neither the annexation of Crimea, nor the insurgency in Eastern Ukraine, led the Ukrainian government to change its pro-Western orientation for a pro-Russian one.