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> After all, Putin's stated long-term goal is to take the entire country (among others) and restore the USSR.

This was never a stated goal.

> "I have said many times that the Russian and Ukrainian people are one nation, in fact. In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours [...] But you know we have an old parable, an old rule: wherever a Russian soldier steps, it is ours."

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/6/27/putin-confirms-...

I’m well aware of this quote. It does not imply that there was at any moment of time a goal to seize the entire Ukraine or to restore USSR.

That they sent special forces to Kyiv to take over the government on the first days of the invasion is not implication?

Is Venezuela US state now or not?

Also, looking at Russian track record specifically, is Georgia, which was militarily defeated in 2008, part of Russia? Did they formally annex Abkhazia or Transnistria? Does Lukashenko report to Putin?

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