Putin spent about 10 months very clearly stating his case, establishing his red line, and asking numerous times for negotiations. We pointedly ignored them all, and kept up with the provocations. We sailed British and American warships less than three miles off of Sevastopol Crimea and claimed we had the permission of Ukraine.
They issued a final ultimatum and request for negotiations on the status of Ukraine. We responded that we would do what we want, and would only talk to them on other topics we deemed worthy... but not Ukraine. The Nazi army was massing to assault the Donbass to grab it for Kiev.
So they got attacked, after Ukraine and NATO aggressively responded to 10 months of warnings.
He very clearly made his objections known; some of them were even very well founded. But if you’re arguing that these objections amounted to a warning that he would invade Ukraine, you’re simply fantastically wrong. And if you’re arguing that his objections somehow justified his war, you’re insane.
Yes, the Orange Revolution was a sham, and yes, Poroshenko’s actions were unjustifiable, but all this ignores that Ukraine had ousted Poroshenko, a wartime feat which itself testifies to a functioning democracy.
He very clearly made his objections known; some of them were even very well founded. But if you’re arguing that these objections amounted to a warning that he would invade Ukraine, you’re simply fantastically wrong. And if you’re arguing that his objections somehow justified his war, you’re insane.
Yes, the Orange Revolution was a sham, and yes, Poroshenko’s actions were unjustifiable, but all this ignores that Ukraine had ousted Poroshenko, a wartime feat which itself testifies to a functioning democracy.