Quote:
Originally Posted by CroFlames
I can't wrap my head around what Putin's end-game is?
Is he willing to sacrifice so much, just to gain a few pockets of Ukraine territory that has Russian minority/majority populations? Doesn't add up.
Or is this a mega distraction for something about to go down in the far east?
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Its a really good question - you could have said the same thing with Crimea, and even then they had deepwater access @ Sevastopol and more strategic ports/land (i.e I still don't think it made sense given the risk for Russians, obviously it panned out OK for them).
But here, beyond a show of force and "patriotic" reunification of ethnic Russian areas, Donbas is pretty useless. Russia's main goal right now in the area is to push back NATO and avoid full Ukrainian membership - perhaps he hopes to negotiate that as part of a de-escalation/ceasefire eventually?
I don't get why the West isn't more motivated to pull Ukraine in as a full NATO member quicker and just face Russia head on. All the other former USSR wall states that've joined (Poland, Latvia, Lithu) seem to enjoy their status and safety.