> He was correct about where things were headed in his 2015 lecture.[1]
Doesn't that lecture also say that he doesn't think Putin would try and capture all of Ukraine?, thats exactly what he's trying to do right now.
Doesn't that lecture also say that he doesn't think Putin would try and capture all of Ukraine?, thats exactly what he's trying to do right now.
And how could you possibly know that? The article highlights how this is most likely not the final goal of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and provides logical and rational reasons as to why.
Because Russian media (RIA Novosti, which is the Russian government owned domestic news agency). literally posted a article congratulating Putin on capturing Ukraine?.
They outed their own intentions from the start.
You can read it here yourself if you want.
https://web.archive.org/web/20220226051154/https://ria.ru/20...
Is this supposed to be a comprehensible sentence fragment?
When Putin is telling us Putin wants to capture all of Ukraine.
I would say they are reliable yes.
Just like when Russian media says they should destroy more dams in Ukraine I believe them.
No amount of evidence would satisfy you, you literally have a primary source (the government) telling you their intentions and you are trying to reject it.
Please note that this is different from statements like "bring Ukraine in the Russian sphere of influence" or similar things. Unless you wanna conflate military objectives with geopolitical ones.
>> Ukraine gained independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union dissolved (this is just for reference).
>> Russia is restoring its unity - the tragedy of 1991, this terrible catastrophe of our history, its unnatural dislocation, have been overcome. Yes, at a high price, yes, through the tragic events of the virtual civil war, because now brothers separated by belonging to the Russian and Ukrainian armies are still shooting at each other - but Ukraine will no longer be anti-Russia. Russia is restoring its historical fullness by gathering the Russian world, the Russian people together - in its entirety of Great Russians, Belarusians and Little Russians. If we had abandoned this, allowed temporary division to gain a foothold for centuries, we would not only betray the memory of our ancestors, but would also be cursed by our descendants - for allowing the collapse of the Russian land.
>> Now there is no problem - Ukraine has returned to Russia. This does not mean that its statehood will be eliminated, but it will be rebuilt, re-esturbished and returned to its natural state of part of the Russian world.
Did you even read it?.
They might mean that or might not, but it's not explicitly stated. You are choosing one possible interpretation and sticking to it like it's the only one.
I mean, just look at it:
>> Russia is restoring its unity - the tragedy of 1991, this terrible catastrophe of our history, its unnatural dislocation, have been overcome.
Adjusted for the sensitivities of western audiences:
>> Germany is restoring its unity - the tragedy of 1918, this terrible catastrophe of our history, its unnatural dislocation, have been overcome.
The subtext is abundantly clear.
He said that some claim that Putin would try to conquer all of Ukraine. All of it.[1] He said that that would be a mistake and that Putin is “too smart” to do that. And what does Russia care about Western Ukraine?
He also said that it would be a mistake for Russia to get bogged down in Ukraine for a long time. So then it depends on whether you think Russia is already “bogged down”; then either Mearsheimer changed his mind or else he’s contradicting himself.
[1] There was also the outlandish “try to re-establish Greater Russia” which is a bit absurd since Russia doesn’t have the capacity to do that even if it wanted to (2015 Mearsheimer said either that Putin does want that or that he may want that).