Germany's population in 1939 exceeded that of both France and the United Kingdom. Russia's population today is dwarfed by both the United States, as well as any reasonable combination of European states. They aren't comparable situations. Russia cannot overrun Europe, and the invasion of Ukraine would represent a serious breach of international norms, but not a world ending threat.

did you say the same in 2014?

I can't imagine there are any greater territorial aspirations by a power who has completely free rein to seize any or all of ukraine but doesn't actually want it all, just going to take the juiciest cuts.
There's a vibe in the sense of Putin's interest in annexing the ethnic russian territories, but poland isn't in his sights.

Maybe I'm wrong and he'll use his twilight years to carve out an empire. Biden is probably the first modern president weak enough to let him

Regardless of what actually happens in reality, the American public will not be in the loop. Media, as usual, will run cover for Biden, whether he throws a congratulatory parade for Putin for successfully conquering Ukraine, or drops ICBMs on every Russian population center over 2. Any "invasion" will not be as sexy as Hollywood or video games would convey. I don't have a dog in this fight, but Putin knows that the American Empire's priority is protecting Biden, not peace in Ukraine. If Biden can get away with doing nothing meaningful, he'll do nothing meaningful. There will be all sorts of pointless debates about it here and on network TV that will amount to jack squat.

In that sense, Ukrainian civilians in the hot zones should count their blessings that our media complex is so corrupt. If the majority of our dinner table conversations were dictated by something like Trump News, the American public would be watching Putin like a hawk, knowing they'll get accurate insight into the situation, and the Russian position would be largely conciliatory and less blustery.

nothing new, but its new that americans start complain about their international „democratic“ strategy. bit late, but yeah better late then never.

what you gonna do now? decrease your massive use of oil and ressources you americans dont own? or go on invading oilrich countrys and destabilize whole nations, to stay „number 1 motherfucker“ on earth?

I was expecting Putin to attack this weekend. A bit disappointed.

In recent years, the MSM tried to spook us into thinking that:

War with North Korea was imminent.
Trump was about to start WW3.

No-one holds the MSM accountable for this stuff, so they keep on doing it. This time with Russia invading Ukraine.

LOLOLOLOL yes the beacon of truth...too funny

You of all people should know better. Believe it or not there are some countries and leaders that exist in this world that don't treat the entire world like a game of chess.

Russia gains nothing from Ukraine other than the black sea port from Crimea, which has already been annexed.

Ukraine proper is a barren country with an economy totally destroyed by war and is full of rabid Russophobes who hate Russia because they are still upset they fought with the Nazis in WW2 and lost. Seriously. These guys wanted the Nazis to win.

It is beyond Russia's means to both control the population as well as restore the economy of this dead country. It would take hundreds of billions, money which Russia doesn't have.

In other words, even simple rational analysis shows Russia has nothing to gain by invading Ukraine other than sanctioning herself, destroying diplomatic ties and justifying Western aggression towards her.

Which means it's all a fairytale for consumption by children and armchair "experts", a combination of delusional paranoia and hysteria from the elite. They want a war badly. Guess they don't care if the whole planet is vaporized. They might even like it, thinning out the global population and what not.

Russia 'gains' by extending its sphere of influence over its immediate neighbors and not having a NATO puppet bordering it. Do you think America would be fine with Russia overthrowing the Mexican government and installing a pro-Russian regime?
Extending its control over Ukraine is easily within its power, that was the status quo until 2014. Did the world not exist before euromaidan?