Of course, nobody knows what’s in Putin’s mind. However, I belong to that school of thought that believes that somehow every exterior conflict is a projection of an internal conflict.
So, I am presenting here a diagram of what I think is potentially happening in Putin’s mind. I also added something that may be a solution for him and the whole conflict. Not that I hold too much hope. As you can see, I didn’t put any “Common Objective”. And I think this is probably the main problem with this conflict. I don’t think Putin sees any common ground with anybody in the West. (Maybe gas and oil?) And, obviously, not with Ukraine. He seems to be very egotistical. In such a case it’s very hard to diffuse a conflict. The solution I proposed is something he may want to embrace as an alternative answer to his apparent needs.
Putin_and_Ukraine.xlogic (47.1 KB)