Fascinating interview. Stone in fact tends to believe that Trump is the victim of a Coup that is still on going. Putin belives the same. Of course Putin is speaking for his own country and its goals...its desire to have Ukraine in its fold. Like I said, a fascinating interview.
NPR just loves Oliver Stone.
This morning, I’m sure they’ll admit to the coup. /s
Putin does not want to annex the entire Ukrainian territory. This would be an administrative nightmare, since a large part of the Western part of the country has been brainwashed to be anti-Russia. He simply doesn't want a hostile regime on his border. If the Ukrainian government stopped with the anti-Russia belligerence, everything would be just fine.
To make an analogy, imagine if China came in and started massively funding Mexico, choosing their leaders, telling them which policies to support, and massing their weapons on our southern border...we would be pretty irate. This is exactly what the USA is doing in Ukraine. We ought to stop it.