• plyth@feddit.org
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    16 hours ago

    Yeah that’s why they made a grab for the whole country.

    That doesn’t matter for this argument. They were willing to settle for less which means they are not hell-bent on conquering Europe.

    there’s a reason nobody lives there

    Historically. There is no need to have farming close-by. Any terrain will do if it allows them to participate in the Asian economy.

    • khannie@lemmy.world
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      16 hours ago

      They were willing to settle for less

      Why? Their goal was total capture of Ukraine. What stopped them? Only armed resistance that they were unable to overcome. They would happily be in full control of Ukraine if they were able to so it’s entirely relevant to the discussion. That was their aim. They just failed.

      Any terrain will do if it allows them to participate in the Asian economy.

      Again I don’t think you have any idea how shit that land is. Population density in the bulk of Russia is under ten people per square kilometer. There’s a reason for that and it’s not lack of desire to be closer to the east.

      • plyth@feddit.org
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        15 hours ago

        They just failed.

        Which means they must at least have realized that they can’t conquer Europe now, if they had planned to do so.

        It’s wise to keep a strong army but I cannot imagine that Russia aims at Europe.

        There’s a reason for that and it’s not lack of desire to be closer to the east.

        Why not? There was no reason to move close to North Korea so far. But it is kind of South Russia, so with a better outlook it makes sense to grow the cities there now.