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I think Putin really does not want to have NATO member countries on his border and he is afraid that Ukraine will end up joining NATO or at least becoming very
by tgflynn 5y ago
I think Putin really does not want to have NATO member countries on his border and he is afraid that Ukraine will end up joining NATO or at least becoming very closely aligned with them. He may have hoped to bluff his way to getting concessions to limit further NATO expansion. If that doesn't work he may invade if he thinks the rewards outweigh the risks.
- stfods 5y agoEven Soviet Union has directly bordered several NATO countries.
- HappyDreamer 5y agoIf Putin doesn't want NATO countries at the border, it's not because he thinks NATO would attack it's because he cannot invade NATO countries. So, the more NATO countries, the smaller his future Great Russia would be.
- eklitzke 5y agoThis is true, but I don't think it's likely that NATO would admit Ukraine. For example, look at Georgia's history of trying to join NATO. For over a decade now Georgia has been a huge ally of NATO and Coalition forces (e.g. in Afghanistan) and has tried to join NATO, but the reality is that if NATO were to allow Georgia (or Ukraine) to join NATO it could precipitate a huge armed conflict with Russia. That being said, it's also possible for NATO to form strategic alliances with countries bordering Russia without explicitly making those countries NATO members. Therefore I think it's in Russia's interest to exert pressure on these countries and make it explicit that partnership with NATO and the West may lead to armed conflict.