Putin had 22 years to retake the former Soviet vassal states.
He's not interested in that....sorry to burst Houston bubble.
This isn't a war for freedom, this is a neocon directed war to conquer Russia.
Putin was dumb and was goaded into attacking.
Why do you think Macron and others are trying to distance themselves from Washington ? He figured out what the real objective is, and doesn't want to get nuked.
Or Europe for that matter..
They know Europe would be the first to feel the destruction from WWIII.
The leaks were an attempt by sane people in the military to tamp things down, and show what is Really going on.
I expect more of the same.
I guess Putin wasn’t interested in invading Georgia and the Crimea either.
Putin clearly stated back in 1991 that he had no intention nor was he required to abide by the deal made with Yeltsin by removing the nukes from Ukraine. If Ukraine still had those nukes your buddy Putin would still be home minding his own business and building Russia up economically instead of invading recognized sovereign nations.
Putin was dumb and goaded, you say?
Try stand up comedy. You might be a really big hit.
