Posted: Dec 05, 2022 1:33 pm
Russia had already annexed Crimea and was occupying it and Donbas in 2014, incidentally tearing up the Budapest Memoranda of 1994 which guaranteed Ukraine's borders. No amount of appeasement on Ukraine's part would have prevented the annexation.
There was absolutely no basis for the 2022 invasion excepting Russian Imperialism since they'd already secured Sevastopol.
In retrospect the only thing that might have prevented the 2022 invasion might have been the imposition of the sanctions and penalties when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, invaded the Donbas and killed just under 300 people on flight MH-17. The lack of response then effectively greenlit the later invasion since Putin thought "the West" would again do nothing.
Back to other current issues: The Belarus Foreign minister, the principle opponent to the invasion there, has suddenly dropped dead and the detained opposition leader is in intensive care. Belarusian and Russian militaries, by sheer co-incidence, have signed yet more understandings of co-operation. This may just be a ploy to divert Ukrainian forces into defending Kyiv from a possible Belarusian incursion from the North. Given that the Belarus military didn't join in the first attempted invasion, I personally can't see them suddenly developing an enthusiasm to attack a re-armed and massively more militant and determined Ukraine now.
There was absolutely no basis for the 2022 invasion excepting Russian Imperialism since they'd already secured Sevastopol.
In retrospect the only thing that might have prevented the 2022 invasion might have been the imposition of the sanctions and penalties when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, invaded the Donbas and killed just under 300 people on flight MH-17. The lack of response then effectively greenlit the later invasion since Putin thought "the West" would again do nothing.
Back to other current issues: The Belarus Foreign minister, the principle opponent to the invasion there, has suddenly dropped dead and the detained opposition leader is in intensive care. Belarusian and Russian militaries, by sheer co-incidence, have signed yet more understandings of co-operation. This may just be a ploy to divert Ukrainian forces into defending Kyiv from a possible Belarusian incursion from the North. Given that the Belarus military didn't join in the first attempted invasion, I personally can't see them suddenly developing an enthusiasm to attack a re-armed and massively more militant and determined Ukraine now.