Yes and No. For Putin, the control and Donetsk and Luhansk was already planned. Everyone in the intelligence scene could note some details like: The Russian Tan

Yes and No. For Putin, the control and Donetsk and Luhansk was already planned. Everyone in the intelligence scene could note some details like: The Russian Tanks with extra fuel tank and the national guard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Guard_of_Russia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Guard_of_Russia presence in the region. What came next, IMO, was decided after the Nord Stream 2 halting. Russia will be now in the Polish border and therefore it gets more power in the negotiation table. > Not sure what you mean by SWIFT being the last option before war, war is happening right now. The War isn't happening for NATO. NATO as we all know won't do anything regarding the Ukraine invasion. If Russia starts to bulk troops on the Polish border - or any other NATO member, EU will try to solve it diplomatically using the SWIFT option before really going to War.