View all things through the prism of civilization’s lifeblood — oil.
When one types “Ukraine has none” there will then explode a series of links quoting millions of barrels and millions of cubic feet of gas “Ukraine has” and exclamation that the guy who said none doesn’t know anything and is completely wrong.
So let’s do this a bit different. Russia’s proven reserves are about 107 billion barrels. Now you have to understand some nuances of that. They have the Bazhenov shale, largest shale in the world, and they haven’t even bothered fracking it yet because they have so much conventional non-shale oil that there is no need. The US quotes about 69 billion barrels, including the most optimistic assessments of various shale.
On the list of reserves from oil’s bible, BP’s World Statistical Report, Ukraine doesn’t even appear. Norway is Europe’s primary source and lists at 8.5 (Note Kazahkstan lists 3X that).
So no, Russia is not trying to steal Ukraine’s oil. They are not worth even mentioning.
As for gas, Russia is overwhelmingly dominant. US 12 trillion cubic meters (when you look this stuff up, stay with cubic meters, not cubic feet, needless confusion). Russia 37.4 trillion cubic meters. Qatar 24.7. Iran 34.7.
Turkmenistan 13.6.
Ukraine 1.1, optimistic.
So nobody is trying to steal Ukraine’s tiny gas totals. Not even worth mentioning.
Russia has all that land surface area. They will find more oil. And gas. The US . . . has been exploring and drilling like hell for well over 100 years. Just how much more did we expect to find?
Ukraine is not the hill to die on. Russia is destined for dominance unless a direct, explicit goal is announced to seize their oil fields and deployment of military to try.
This will NEVER EVER happen from a Green administration.
Owning oil is not the be all and end all.
If it were Venezuela would have an empire.
Arab sheikhdoms likewise. Saudi Arabia would own Yemen.
Or, heck, the US would have managed to prop up South Vietnam.
There are plenty of factors feeding national power. Having powerful friends for instance.
As for US reserves, the US is currently tapping immense resources in oil shale. Current tech can keep the US energy independent indefinitely. And that is because just a little exploration consistently finds more. The only thing holding the US back is political will.