Quote Originally Posted by drillerpie View Post
He's been allowed to get away with so much before that this has always been on the cards, although I have to say I think Biden has dealt with this difficult situation reasonably well - sounding firm without sounding bellicose, just exposing Putin's lies.

Problem is what to do about it - if he doesn't meet any resistance he'll take more territory than his rebels have already taken from Ukraine, and if Ukraine tries to retake/protect its own territory Putin will say it's a form of aggression, and will use that as an excuse to keep going and take even more territory. They're damned if they do and damned if they don't.
That is exactly what Putin is doing, hopes Ukraine responds in those areas with force so he can send in his troops to 'defend his people'. He won't be happy until he's got the Soviet Union back.
The problem for him is he doesn't want nato on his borders but they will probably reinforce their weaponry in countries like Poland.