General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What should be done about Russia and Ukraine? [View all]Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)The Russians will eventually annex eastern Ukraine, probably concurrent with western Ukraine joining Nato. There is fuck all we can do about that. Our efforts so far have simply consolidated Putin's control over the Russian state as the new Great Leader taking Russia out of its post USSR decline and back into Great Power status, even if that status is, as Obama sneeringly put it, "regional". It is a big region, and we really don't have any military options there.
We can further consolidate Putin's control with punitive sanctions. We probably have no choice but to do just that. So far, this is Putin's game, and he has played it well.
The other reality is that Ukraine was a failed state for the last decade or more. The division between the Russia facing east and the EU facing west was irreconcilable. A split was inevitable.