Russia Hawks and China Hawks (Robert Wright & John Mearsheimer)
Robert Wright's Nonzero
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Putin's Pre-Invasion Speech on NATO
Putin says things that sound as if just national self-interest is not the full extent of his consideration. He made it perfectly clear that he recognized Ukrainian nationalism and that Ukraine's future was up to Ukraine. There is no evidence in that document that he was interested in conquering Ukraine. If you look at his behavior in the run-up to the war, what he was trying to do was make the Minsk agreement work so there would be no need for Russia to get involved.
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