There have been ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine since 2014, over 8 years ago. These conflicts are mainly centered around territory disputes on Russia’s border with Ukraine and who the land truly belongs to. On this border, many people speak Russian and consider themselves part of Russia. 

 

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has placed troops and military artillery on the border of Ukraine, saying that is not a threat. Rather, he insists it  is a place for its military to practice. Skeptical of this claim, a phone call has been planned between “US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky,” Ivana Kottasová from CNN reports.

 

NATO leaders are worried: Russia has invaded Ukraine before, and there are Ukrainian rebel allies who want to become part of Russia once more.

 

A bit of background information: Russia supported Ukrainian separatists who captured large portions of eastern Ukraine. These rebels fought against the Ukrainian government ever since in an ongoing conflict that has claimed 14,000 lives, BBC states.

 

Putin blames Americans for dramatizing the situation and making it appear worse than it actually is. The New York Times reports, it has been released that “Mr. Putin accused the United States of trying to goad his government into launching a conflict to create a pretext for tougher Western sanctions against Russia.”

 

Because of his more-than-sketchy background, NATO is taking this threat seriously and has already prepared for invasion. According to NPR, about 3,000 coalition troops are stationed in Poland and Germany with 8,500 waiting in reserves.

 

When examining how Russia is trying to persuade people that Putin will not invade Ukraine, one can compare his actions to that of Adolf Hitler, the lead figure behind World War II and the expansion of Germany in the 1930s-1940s.

 

According to A. Knighton, writing for War History Online, in the first country he conquered, Czechoslovakia, Hitler stated that he wanted to reunite a specific German speaking portion of that land with Germany, similar to what Russia and the Ukrainian separatists seemed to be doing.

 

Whether this threat is real or not remains a mystery, but  looking at past events and applying common sense (and historical precedent) to this situation, one could believe that Putin plans to take over part of Ukraine and expand his country's borders. 

 

Works Cited

BBC News. 2022. Is Russia preparing to invade Ukraine and what does Putin want?. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56720589> [Accessed 5 February 2022].

Knighton, A., 2022. 11 Countries Invaded by Nazi Germany And Why They Were Invaded. [online] WAR HISTORY ONLINE. Available at: <https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/11-countries-invaded-nazi-germany-invaded.html> [Accessed 5 February 2022].

Kottasová, Ivana C., 2022. Russia says there was a 'mix-up' in its response to US on Ukraine crisis. [online] CNN. Available at: <https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/01/europe/ukraine-russia-news-tuesday-intl/index.html> [Accessed 5 February 2022].

Nechepurenko, A. T. and I. (2022, February 3). Putin says the U.S. wants to push Russia into war. The New York Times. Retrieved February 5, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/01/world/russia-ukraine-news 

Npr.org. 2022. NPR Cookie Consent and Choices. [online] Available at: <https://www.npr.org/2022/02/02/1077634712/us-troops-russia-ukraine> [Accessed 5 February 2022].