Nuclear war looms as Putin began his invasion on eastern Ukraine after sending troops to two separate regions of Ukraine, declaring them as independent states. Despite this, negotiations are failing due to Putin’s refusal to work with western nations.

The former KGB agent and long time Russian president is dead-set on acquiring this remnant of the former USSR. But why does Putin want it so bad, why now, and what are his demands?

For starters, the Russians are notorious for being a historical enemy of western countries and continue to be long after the collapse of its Soviet era. It’s not uncommon to see the Russian state cooperating with countries like China — a top enemy of the United States.

Ukraine, which turned into a democracy after the collapse of the Soviet Union, caught the attention of Putin’s highly nostalgic and nationalist administration. Putin simply “regards Ukraine as an integral part of historical Russia and its loss as a symbol of Russia’s cold war defeat.” He explicitly does not respect the legitimacy of former Soviet states, as he explained in a speech he made last week. To support his rivalry against western nations, he’s demanded that NATO not accept Ukraine as an official member and pull back their troops from the eastern borders. However, most Ukrainians support NATO — the majority has grown dramatically since the invasion of Crimea. In spite of this, NATO has yet to accept Ukraine as an official member despite their previous application.

It’s an obvious fact that Russia is trying everything it can to keep Ukraine from joining NATO, and Russia won’t stop. They haven’t stopped trying since they invaded Crimea in 2014 after anti-Russian protesters overthrew pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, which prompted the Russians to take retaliatory measures.

Putin is known as a tough, resilient, demanding, and strong-headed leader. President Joe Biden, on the other hand, isn’t. Someone like Biden, who’s had a damning record since blundering the Afghanistan withdrawal, isn’t intimidating or strong enough to fight back against Putin. And Putin is aware of his mental and military advantage — although the U.S. has been first in military might, Russian land forces have remarkably contested the U.S.’s spot. Not only that, but Russia has a massive home field advantage.

UKRAINE by Rhamil Aloysius Taguba [STUDENT]

So what can possibly be done to lessen the chances for a new Cold War? Because of Biden’s incompetence, it would be reasonable to just not fight back. With the recent cooperation from the Chinese, Putin has NATO and the Biden Administration pinned on the wall; it would be best for them to not intervene. Any further hostile action is bound to put innocent lives of an already famished and displaced country like Ukraine on the line.

And Biden has been proven to be incompetent in situations like these. Putin sees right through his performance and can fully take advantage of it.

Moreover, financial and economic sanctions will almost have little to no effect considering Russia’s geographical and political pact with one of the largest consumer exporters in the world, China. Even moreso, Putin’s move to place troops in regions in Ukraine is a signal to the rest of the world that he is ready and he doesn’t plan on retreating.

It’s a terrifying period to be on this Earth today, especially for Ukrainians. The biggest loser in this situation is the people and civilians — they take no benefits and are made to suffer the consequences for the ambitions and incompetence of both sides. To the Ukrainians, I hope you keep faith and hope, may God bless you all.