What should be done about Russia and Ukraine?

[ancianita]

16. You've hit a nerve. I've wondered the same thing. Maybe we're supposed to be kept confused about

various goals in that region.

Is it about who controls energy resources or is it about national sovereignty, or both. If it's about both, why can't both countries just cut a deal and treat each other as neighbors with stuff to exchange. Why the power grab, and why now. I'm just trying to keep up.

Ukraine has just asked to join NATO. Why now? Why did its leaders accede to not joining NATO earlier, and promote its sovereign narrative and trade relationships internationally?

Sure, Ukrainian unionists heated up during the Moscow Olympics, but prior to that, Ukraine seems to have not gained sufficient control of the terms of its economy and international status. Have Ukrainians lost control of their sovereignty because they allowed Russians to settle there?

Can the Russian population's settlement be considered similar to Israel's settlement of the West Bank -- a way to claim and annex land base? Is Putin's recently claimed 'demographic unification' an accepted worldwide standard that any country can use to annex more land base?' Is that why migrants from powerful nations are not trusted in resource rich countries?

Is it a stupid question to ask whether the Ukrainians have just not had leaders who know how to strengthen and protect their country such that the old bully next door is out to show them what happens when you don't run your land base very well? Does Gazprom really run Putin?