[Grzegorz 246]

You are right, pre-WW2 Czechoslovakia had big internal problems, Adolf had been fueling them up for years, to the point that he broke up a country and next took control of the whole territory. Putin has been using the same tactic in case of Ukraine.

[Rashputin]

I think Putin got what he wanted and has been playing the opportunist ever since. I doubt he really cares whether the gets the Eastern Ukraine into Russia now or it returns to Russian decades from now.

His concerns were with Russian vital interests in the Crimea being held hostage by blue helmets or NATO and he solved that problem Beyond that, well, nature abhors a vacuum and a vacuum installed itself in the Ukraine so it won't be long before the Turks are demanding a chunk of the Ukraine and who knows who else.