[scotty79]

Are you kidding? What about all the natural resources of Ukraine? And huge arable land?

If Russia managed to control Ukraine, even at terrible but temporary cost in 100 years Russia would be much better off with Ukraine than without. It would make Russia even more serious player on so many markets.

They never drew their economic power from people. They could exterminate all Ukrainians and still come on top economically in the long term if they controlled the land.

[ikrenji]

Starting a war over gas fields when the entire world is pledged to go off carbon fuel is... short sighted at best, if not outright idiotic.

[scotty79]

There's also neon, and wheat.

As for gas, we can see how overt declarations about going off carbon fuels are squaring against reality where German leaders are practically crawling up Putins ass in the middle of the war to ensure harmoneous future cooperation with a country that has only carbon fuels.