[kornhole]

I suggest maintaining a neutral buffer zone between NATO and RF by not bringing Ukraine and other bordering nations into NATO. You found zero evidence that Russia wants to expand its borders. Although the communist party is the second largest in RF, its influence is relatively small and sees little likelihood of gaining significant power to restore the USSR.

The Donbas is populated mainly by Russian people who had been in a civil war with western Ukraine since the 2014 Maidan coup. They wanted to join the Russian Federation for years, but Russia did not want that until the situation became untenable.

Russia's economy is growing faster than the US and Europe. Perhaps that will encourage immigration. RF is implementing many policies to aid families to have more children and encourage controlled immigration. They could use about another billion people in that vast and rich territory.

[tryauuum]

I didn't read the whole thread but this seems incorrect to me:

    You found zero evidence that Russia wants to expand its borders

doesn't acquiring Crimea speak against that? Or you don't consider it an expansion of borders because people speak russian there?

[kornhole]

Crimea is history at this point. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/official-results-97-of-crimea-v...

I was referring to claims we hear that Russia wants to expand its empire into European countries outside of Ukraine. RF expressly did not want to take in the Donbas as is shown in the Minsk treaties and its actions repeatedly. It tried to exert influence to stop the civil war with subsequent peace treaty negotiations, but those were thwarted. https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/official-john... RF was left with little options at this point.

[aguaviva]

The Donbas is populated mainly by Russian people

False. The regions in question identified as Ukrainian, and by a solid majority (55-45) in the most recent census. Yes -- even Russian speakers identified as "Ukrainian" when given the choice. And just because 45 percent identified as "Russian", for most this was a matter of linguistic identification, nothing more. It doesn't mean they were irredentist, or actually wanted to live in Putin's Russia.

Who had been in a civil war

False. In no sense was the 2014 conflict ever a "civil war". It was led, orchestrated, and fought by Russian nationals from the very start. This is openly acknowledged by Russian sources, including the very people who organized the initial skirmishes, and there's really no controversy about it.

2014 Maidan coup

There was no "coup" either, and these factual inversions are starting to get very tedious to correct.

But for those interested in more detail: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40481317

They wanted to join the Russian Federation for years

Not "they" as in a majority, or even a near-majority. Some did, but the Novorossiya movement as such was quite small pre-2014.

You found zero evidence that Russia wants to expand its borders.

Putin has already openly expressed his wish to annex the currently occupied territories (and then some) into the RF.

[kornhole]

Yes I should have stated more clearly that most of the people in the Donbas were either ethnic Russian or Russian speaking. Regardless of that, the majority wanted to join the RF. https://nationalfile.com/donbas-region-overwhelmingly-votes-...

2014 may not have looked like a coup from the media and is difficult to prove as one. Too much US state department involvement makes it look like one if you did deeper. Countless analyses by others with inside knowledge believe it was in the style of a color revolution. Too many sources to list here.