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Putin believes that Ukraine is historically part of Russia and it's independent existence is only tolerable if the country is firmly in Russia's sphere of influence.
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He believes the CIA engineered a coup that overthrew the legitimate government of Ukraine and replaced it with a western puppet regime in 2014.
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He believes the modern nationalist Ukrainian state draws from the legacy of Nazi collaboration during WWII and poses a direct threat to Russian national security. Removing this particular nationalist influence is a key goal of the military operation, which he seeks to achieve through negotiation.
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Russia expressed interest in joining NATO during the Clinton administration but was rejected. This lead Russia to feel geopolitically isolated and cut off from the whole western project.
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He believes the west is obsessed with weakening Russia as much as possible and that NATO is nothing more than an anti-Russian alliance.
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Putin thinks China is now more powerful than the United States and more relevant.
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He believes our government is controlled by an entrenched bureaucracy that cannot be changed through elections.
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He believes the US and European Union are extorting taxpayers to fund Ukraine's war. He sees no reason why the US continues to support Ukraine.
Putin Interview Summarized
RUSSIAN SALT MINES 🇷🇺
I belong to a business networking group that posts ads for jobs, looking for X advisors in Y city. There is also a small catch-all. One I saw was for M&A investment requests for a sniper drone project that they couched the advertising in Ukraine/American support but the point of "$10 a shot" is what really grossed me out. Yes, please angel fund my project so we can get down to the business of killing people we don't like on the cheap!