Why Did Russia Invade Ukraine?

Why Did Russia Invade Ukraine? Well, Putin had a speech last night that explains it. Russia was downright uninterested in invading Ukraine because Russia’s territory is so vast and it is the largest nation with abundant natural resources. But there is no trust between NATO and Russia now and Russia feels its security threatened by the expansion of NATO towards its borders.

— To Russia, the breakup of the Soviet Union is a bitter lesson and it does not want to be broken up in this manner. Henceforth, Russia does not want Ukraine to become a NATO member. Even though Russia does not want to invade Ukraine, it is taking tough actions to eliminate any threat including destroying the capability of Ukraine’s army.

— It is widely believed that Putin’s ultimate objective is to reabsorb the former Soviet States and establish influence over Central Europe. However, many see this solely as Russia wanting to take Ukraine. Russia likely wants to avoid geopolitical isolation in an increasingly bipolar world where the U.S. and China engage in direct competition.

— And why does Russia see Ukraine as a threat is because, in the Ukraine crisis, the Western world is believed to have followed a provocative path since the beginning. Thus, escalated the tension in the Ukraine crisis and it was most recently revealed by Biden’s statement of the date of occupation. The US and UK’s attempt to take Ukraine into NATO and plans to deploy nuclear missiles are seen as threats by Russia.

— A huge problem now is that if Ukraine joins NATO, it would be a security risk to Russia, and could possibly cause WWIII if antagonisms and posturing continue. Putin wants America and the European Union to commit that Ukraine will not join NATO. America and the European Union cannot respond favourably to this request, because it would call into question Ukraine’s sovereignty to choose its alliances.

— However, it would be a betrayal of a promise made to Ukraine when the country agreed to get rid of its nuclear arsenal. As we see, the situation here is more than complex. The current situation de-escalated because neither side is willing to make the concessions demanded by the other. The situation has ultimately headed towards the worst-case scenario, unfortunately.

Why did Ukraine consider joining NATO?
For the unversed, it is time to recall how the first year of the Ukrainian Civil War saw the Russians invade and annex the island of Crimea. Putin claimed that the population of the island voted for Russian annexation. A small portion of eastern Ukraine declared its independence and allegiance to Moscow. But the fighting did not end there. It went on and continued to this very day.

The annexation of Crimea was a small victory for Putin in 2014, but as the years dragged on and Russian volunteers began dying with little territorial gain, there were serious doubts as to Putin’s intervention in Ukraine. It was just last year that thousands of young Russians began protesting all over the country against Putin’s tyranny in handling the Ukrainian affair. And eventually, Ukraine really considered joining NATO. The United States under President Biden, an enemy of Vladimir Putin, made it clear that Russia could not have its way and demanded NATO not include other former Soviet republics.

Putin left with two options – He could continue to support a redundant rebellion and lose the rest of Ukraine entirely to NATO, or he could play his most dangerous card by sending in the army and conquering Ukraine entirely. Both moves have greater risks than results.