Your statement confuses me, so in order for Russia not to be a puppet of the west they needed to invade and conquer Ukraine?
Seems to me Russia was pretty strong and more free(we can argue that point later) before invading, to what become more strong and free.
The Russian military is now far weaker and exposed for its shortcomings. Russian economy is far weaker. Before the invasion they were trading with the west had huge petrodollars coming in and if it were not for the inherent corruption that seems to be build in to the societal norm of Russian society would have been even greater
No this is about one thing Putins ego and dreams of grandeur and he will achieve this dream no matter how many have to die and how much Russia suffers
Reminds me of a little man with a little mustache in a certain German bunker
Russia has never been an aggressor nation on Europe although it has in its own territories, just as Washington D.C. was during the Civil War and to this day with its Federal mandates and arm twisting of states that don’t adhere to its authoritarian policies. And it’s going to get worse as the decades go on, and just as balkanized as other parts of Eastern Europe, but it’s not going to happen overnight.
“Your statement confuses me, so in order for Russia not to be a puppet of the west they needed to invade and conquer Ukraine?”
Yep, given what the West has stated about their INTENTIONS regarding Russia. Either Russia stops their continued advance towards that goal, or Russia becomes subservient to the West. Death by a Thousand Cuts, and it was going on long before the Ukraine War.
Really no different than the Cold War, when each side was trying to do it to the other side. Otherwise why would we have cared about Africa, or Central America, or South America.