Why would Russia want to invade Ukraine with military force?
Putin says he believes that the US and Nato are a direct threat to Russia's sovereignty by protecting Ukraine with military assurances and arming.
Putin seeks assurances that the US and Nato will not invade Russia and will not attack Russia if Russia engages Ukraine militarily for whatever reason. Of course, such open-ended assurances are a non-starter.
One reason why Russia wants to control Ukraine is that it is a rich fertile producer of agricultural products. Russia would benefit from the acquisition of farm assets.
Since Ukraine is a very large nation, second only to Russia in landmass in the European theater, it is wanted to increase Russian power and dominance.
If Russia invades Ukraine militarily, not only would thousands of lives be lost on both sides, the land would be damaged and economic and political turbulence would ensue without an end in sight. Further, it is possible that such invasion would trigger a nuclear conflagration.
True it is that many Russian-speaking Ukrainians are Ukrainian citizens. With Ukraine being poor and corrupt, their desire to join Russian might be a political outcome if left to a vote in free elections. Who knows?
The trouble is, Russia is an authoritarian and undemocratic state. That is another non-starter for Western allies to engage in negotiations with Russia.
Russia could easily change the dynamics if Putin and his oligarchs would lean more toward becoming a democratic republic. The trouble is, the U.S. is actually becoming less of a democratic republic, especially with Trump-Republicans on the horizon.
"Ukraine is a developing country ranking 74th in the Human Development Index. It is the poorest country in Europe alongside Moldova, suffering from a very high poverty rate as well as severe corruption. [13][14]. However, because of its extensive fertile farmlands, Ukraine is one of the largest grain exporters in the world. [15][16].
It also maintains the third-largest military in Europe after Russia and France. [17]. Ukraine is a unitary republic under a semi-presidential system with separate powers: legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
The country is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the GUAM organization, and the Lublin Triangle, and is one of the founding states of the CIS, even though it never became a member of the organization."
Ukraine - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine
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