Is Russia's invasion of Ukraine primarily about capturing Ukraine's resources to finance Russia's military? Is the Ruso-Ukrainian war strictly about resource ownership?
I agree with Greg B.'s analysis and prognostication. Russia would not invade Ukraine simply for political reasons. The Soviet Union existed long ago, was not sustainable and it is not likely that political leaders in Russia would believe they could resurrect it. So, there must be something in Ukraine that Russia wants to control. Another factor to dismiss is that Russia had any fear the Ukraine would try to somehow harm Russia. There are two resourcess to consider here, products and business capacity.
Russia and Ukraine have a free trade agreement. Thus, they already trade commodities and products freely. In fact, Ukraine purchases almost 6 billion dollars of petroleum products from Russia currently. Russia purchases enormous amounts of agricultural products from Ukraine. Seeemingly, for trade, Russia has no incentive to occupy Ukraine.
Ukraine has been steadily moving towards a business model more closely aligned with the European Union and other free, democratic nations. This puts Russia's international business model on a collision course with its neighbor and trading partner. The 'Westernization' of Ukraine's business practices' is an existential threat to Russia. To the extent that Russia is bordered on Europe and its open business practices and on China with its closed business practices, Russia is quite likely to be squeezed. This economic reality is quite likely to cause an enormous pressure on Russia to reform its business practices, or to become more economically challenged that it is now.
Although issues related to petroleum products must have a major impact on Vladimir Putin's thinking, I believe that Putin invaded Ukraine because he is against 'Westernization' and he wants control of Ukraine's business practices.
I agree with Greg B.'s analysis and prognostication. Russia would not invade Ukraine simply for political reasons. The Soviet Union existed long ago, was not sustainable and it is not likely that political leaders in Russia would believe they could resurrect it. So, there must be something in Ukraine that Russia wants to control. Another factor to dismiss is that Russia had any fear the Ukraine would try to somehow harm Russia. There are two resourcess to consider here, products and business capacity.
Russia and Ukraine have a free trade agreement. Thus, they already trade commodities and products freely. In fact, Ukraine purchases almost 6 billion dollars of petroleum products from Russia currently. Russia purchases enormous amounts of agricultural products from Ukraine. Seeemingly, for trade, Russia has no incentive to occupy Ukraine.
Ukraine has been steadily moving towards a business model more closely aligned with the European Union and other free, democratic nations. This puts Russia's international business model on a collision course with its neighbor and trading partner. The 'Westernization' of Ukraine's business practices' is an existential threat to Russia. To the extent that Russia is bordered on Europe and its open business practices and on China with its closed business practices, Russia is quite likely to be squeezed. This economic reality is quite likely to cause an enormous pressure on Russia to reform its business practices, or to become more economically challenged that it is now.
Although issues related to petroleum products must have a major impact on Vladimir Putin's thinking, I believe that Putin invaded Ukraine because he is against 'Westernization' and he wants control of Ukraine's business practices.
C.