[zeestephen]

Re: So, what of Putin?

I do not know enough Russian history to speculate.

I do know that over the last five centuries, Ukraine has had many occupiers.

Turks, Asians, Poles, and, of course, Russians.

Putin is a tough guy. He knows that NATO is not going to risk nuclear war over Ukraine.

Expansion into the Baltic countries, maybe?

The Belarus leadership seems to want union with Russia. I have never understood why that has not happened.

Communists definitely perceive more land and more population as an intrinsic good.

[Verginius Rufus]

Maybe the key to understanding Putin is to read Thucydides' Melian dialogue.

"Of the gods we believe, and of men we know, that by some necessity of their nature, they rule wherever they can."