[CodeJockey]

So the reason Putin went into Ukraine was just to acquire more terra firma? Pretty shallow of him. I would have thought it was more substantial than that.

[DannyTN]

"So the reason Putin went into Ukraine was just to acquire more terra firma? Pretty shallow of him. I would have thought it was more substantial than that."

• Well first he claimed it was to stop genocide. But there were international observers on the ground monitoring the Minsk accord and that wasn't happening and nobody believed Putin. What Putin is doing to Ukraine looks more like genocide.
• Then he claimed that it was NATO expansion. But there was no way NATO was going to accept Ukraine as long as there was an active territorial dispute going on. And every one on both sides admits Ukraine's admission to NATO was never seriously on the table.
• Then there were claims that Ukraine was developing nuclear weapons after having given them up for Russia recognizing Ukraine's borders. But nobody really believes that either.
• And there were claims that Ukraine was developing Bioweapons, but health labs researching endemic viruses in the area are not bioweapon labs. And again nobody believes it.

  You wouldn't do things like bomb civilian infrastructure or flaten entire towns like Mariupol, if you're invading to protect Russian speaking people. It just completely destroys any credibility that claim might have had.

  Ukraine has natural resources valued at #4 in the world. The oil and gas reserves found long after Ukraine won their independence is the reason Putin is invading. Those reserves represent competition to Putin's own reserves. But with them he holds even more monopoly power over Europe.

  And that's why the West would be absolutely crazy to let Putin take Ukraine.