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The Russian military action against Ukraine started in 2014, long before that.

roenxi 4y ago
Are you going to argue that the present situation in Ukraine is equivalent to the situation at the start of 2020? I suppose it might be, I wasn't paying a lot of attention. But my strong suspicion there has been a bit of a turning point that happened after COVID hit, possibly on or about 24 February 2022. It is notable that there was a long stretch of relative calm that ended around the time everyone switched off their economies. The original Crimea annexation didn't have all these headlines of global food shortages and energy crisii either, raising the questions of "why is this time so much worse?" and "why is this escalating?". You can blame Putin if you want, but lets be real - economic stresses are a big factor in war and peace.
- munch117 4y ago
  The motivation behind the two events is the same. Putin sees in the very existence of Ukraine the loss of some glorious USSR past. The timing may have changed due to circumstances, but I think it's likely that escalation would have happened sooner or later anyway. Economic considerations would have been a great reason to not start a war. COVID-19 did not cause food shortages and an energy crisis. The war did.
  - roenxi 4y ago
    > The motivation behind the two events is the same. Putin sees... Putin has been running Russia for more than 20 years. So while he may or may not believe that, the timing of war starting right after the COVID pandemic is at least a little suspicious. > COVID-19 did not cause food shortages and an energy crisis. The war did. The crippling sanctions that Russia is imposing on the West are certainly the first order cause, but we must nevertheless observe that under more ordinary conditions maybe there would be some slack elsewhere in the world that could make up a bit more of the difference. We were seeing signs of food and energy pressure before the war. It has been brewing for a while now.

Are you going to argue that the present situation in Ukraine is equivalent to the situation at the start of 2020? I suppose it might be, I wasn't paying a lot of attention. But my strong suspicion there has been a bit of a turning point that happened after COVID hit, possibly on or about 24 February 2022. It is notable that there was a long stretch of relative calm that ended around the time everyone switched off their economies. The original Crimea annexation didn't have all these headlines of global food shortages and energy crisii either, raising the questions of "why is this time so much worse?" and "why is this escalating?". You can blame Putin if you want, but lets be real - economic stresses are a big factor in war and peace.

munch117 4y ago
The motivation behind the two events is the same. Putin sees in the very existence of Ukraine the loss of some glorious USSR past. The timing may have changed due to circumstances, but I think it's likely that escalation would have happened sooner or later anyway. Economic considerations would have been a great reason to not start a war. COVID-19 did not cause food shortages and an energy crisis. The war did.
- roenxi 4y ago
  > The motivation behind the two events is the same. Putin sees... Putin has been running Russia for more than 20 years. So while he may or may not believe that, the timing of war starting right after the COVID pandemic is at least a little suspicious. > COVID-19 did not cause food shortages and an energy crisis. The war did. The crippling sanctions that Russia is imposing on the West are certainly the first order cause, but we must nevertheless observe that under more ordinary conditions maybe there would be some slack elsewhere in the world that could make up a bit more of the difference. We were seeing signs of food and energy pressure before the war. It has been brewing for a while now.