Rhetoric is rhetoric: it provides a smokescreen. Geostrategically, Putin wants what every ruler of Russia has wanted since it was the Principality of Muscovy: c

Rhetoric is rhetoric: it provides a smokescreen. Geostrategically, Putin wants what every ruler of Russia has wanted since it was the Principality of Muscovy: control of the North European Plain, in order to prevent invasion from the west.[1][2] An empty, derelict Ukraine would serve nearly as well as a puppet state for this purpose. 1. It's worth reading some geography and history. Russia has been invaded a lot, and has a justifiable fear of invasion. Sure, the West might not want to invade now, but who can predict what the situation will be in 2070 or 2170? 2. Putin also wants to maintain the viability of Russia's warm-water port at Sevastopol. The Crimean peninsula was formerly supplied with water by a canal from Ukraine, but that was blocked after Russia annexed Crimea, and Crimea is now desperately short of water. And there is the small matter of major unexploited gas fields in the Black Sea between Crimea and (the rest of) Ukraine...