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he didn't invade in 2018 because he was still preparing -- and because Trump was still a wildcard that could work out for him. If he won the Presidency in 2020
by red-iron-pine 2y ago
he didn't invade in 2018 because he was still preparing -- and because Trump was still a wildcard that could work out for him. If he won the Presidency in 2020 then Putin could slow walk the invasion.
Biden + COVID changed the landscape enough that Putin and the FSB advisors who did the planning were convinced they could (and arguably, had to, since his Trump ace-in-the-hole was not certain) make a move. Thus a 2022 invasion.