The Minsk agreements were signed by Ukraine and the break away republics. Russia tried for 8 years to get the Ukraine govt to keep to the agreement.
Then Biden, Blinken and Boris started the Russia invasion rumours. Is it because they want Russia in the situation it was in after the collapse of the Soviet Union? The economy was in ruins and several people died through starvation. Putin was the person, with help no doubt, who turned the country around. But Russia is extremely resource rich and the USA is no doubt coming to the end of her resource supply.

Putin had all European leaders knocking at his door wanting to negotiate with him.
While they talked the Ukrainians have started bombing the East with heavy artillery. Many of the military units are mercenaries. There are full blown Nazis/Banderites in these units. People who think Russia are the ‘baddies’ need to look up Odessa and the event that took place there prior to the Maidan in Kiev 8 yrs ago.

Re Putin’s desire to carve up more countries, how many places has he invaded compared to the USA? Russia doesn’t want war but when the Ukrainians with the support of Western military equipment bomb and kill innocent Russian speaking civilians he will enter the country to support the Russian people living there. He’s already evacuated several 100,000s women and children from the area. Saw a busload of orphans heading toward their evacuation bus. Their parents had been killed by the Ukrainian bombing of the Donbass 8 years ago. And all we worry about are the protestors.

Later on Tuesday, Putin told journalists Moscow was ready to provide military support to the Donbass republics, if required. The president was speaking in the Kremlin after holding talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev.

“Yesterday we signed agreements with the DPR and LPR. They contain clauses that we will provide, among other things, military assistance … If necessary, we will fulfill our obligations,” he said

Contrary to all the news I have heard on air and all I have read in the MSM and here , Russia has not yet sent a single soldier into Donbass but stands ready to do so if requested by the leaders of these breakaway republics. And has made preparations.
I would be pretty sure that this is all Russia will need to do. The civil war between the Kiev govt.and the Donbass is over. Whether it was being pushed by the Ukraine govt or rather by the US there is no way any aggressive action against the ethnic Russian population there will continue. The civil war is over. there are no losers except US and UK political egos. And nothing will come of it except hot air and self defeating sanctions.
The greatest relief will be to pres. Zelensky.
D J S

“He’s a new Tsar not a Lenin.”
Quite correct, and this all has sweet fuck all to do with the Soviet Union despite the blog’s title.
The Rus and Russia has been involved in this part of Eastern Europe and Western Asia for many centuries as has half a dozen or more cultures including Mongols, Tatars, Turks, Hungarian and Baltic nations.

So far as I can see, post-Merkel and Brexit, France looks set to take the dominant role in the EU, especially if Macron gets re-elected. France-led EU then becomes the major influence in Francophone Africa in opposition to Chinese influence while the US, UK and anglophone nations pivot to Asia-pacific.

I don’t think China’s ascendancy is a given, they seem to be about where Japan was (as the ‘next major power’) in the mid-80s. Thanks to the one child policy, (reversed far too late), they are also in rapid demographic decline, the have a nationwide housing development ponzi scheme that is collapsing. This accounts for about 25% of GDP, the means of local governments funding (through land sales) and accounts 80% of the wealth of Chinese citizens in urban centres. Xi is becoming increasingly autocratic, reversing many of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms and adopting policies that have a flavour of cultural revolution about them, this is not the sign of a healthy state.

Not that I think the US is a healthy state either, absent a major war, my money for the rising empire of this century is on India.