I think that what we're seeing now is about -- in a certain sense, it's about Russia's security, but it is about many other things, including Putin's obsession with Ukraine, his belief that it's not a real country, his desire to recreate the Russian empire, the Soviet Union, his need to sort of establish himself in a positive way before the 2024 presidential elections.
Yovanovitch explains the motivations behind Putin's actions regarding Ukraine.
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I think he needs to knock it out of the park with that speech, again, emphasizing western unity, American leadership and calling Russia out for what it is and then explaining once again why Ukraine matters, why this is a greater battle of…
I think if the world starts following the path of Vladimir Putin, we are going to be less prosperous, certainly less secure, and have far fewer freedoms.
I think that he, frankly, didn't really think that much about Ukraine, but he thought a lot about Russia as a great power. And he sort of accepted, I think, Putin's view of Ukraine is not really being a real country.
I think that President Putin was getting what he needed out of the Trump administration.