I think who is winning is something neither you or I know enough classified intelligence to make definitive statements on. My other question is, if Russia wants a buffer between NATO countries, then wouldn’t invading Ukraine put Russian borders right up against NATO borders (Romania, Hungry, etc.)? I’m not seeing the logic in it.
It’s pretty clear that Russia is in a much better position than NATO here. Europe depends on Russia for around 40% of its energy, and there is no credible alternative to that. Russia also has a far bigger military force that it would be able to deploy than NATO. Russia has also become sanction proof, even financial times admits this now. On top of that, Russia is also allied with China creating a huge economic bloc that Europe is entirely dependent on. Europe already does more trade with China than US at this point. European leaders clearly understand this, hence why there are direct negotiations are now happening between Russia, France, and Germany.
And again, Russia has no interest in invading Ukraine. They want Ukraine to be a neutral country the way it was before NATO did a color revolution there.
I think who is winning is something neither you or I know enough classified intelligence to make definitive statements on. My other question is, if Russia wants a buffer between NATO countries, then wouldn’t invading Ukraine put Russian borders right up against NATO borders (Romania, Hungry, etc.)? I’m not seeing the logic in it.
It’s pretty clear that Russia is in a much better position than NATO here. Europe depends on Russia for around 40% of its energy, and there is no credible alternative to that. Russia also has a far bigger military force that it would be able to deploy than NATO. Russia has also become sanction proof, even financial times admits this now. On top of that, Russia is also allied with China creating a huge economic bloc that Europe is entirely dependent on. Europe already does more trade with China than US at this point. European leaders clearly understand this, hence why there are direct negotiations are now happening between Russia, France, and Germany.
And again, Russia has no interest in invading Ukraine. They want Ukraine to be a neutral country the way it was before NATO did a color revolution there.
edit: spelling