Thread by @GastroOneIndia

#UkraineInvasion @ravikanths_
PUTIN'S OPTIONS NOW?
With NATO forward troops activated and Russian forces getting closer to NATO borders in the European heartland like Poland and Romania, at what will stage could that lead to pre-emptive defensive moves?

Putin wants a non-aligned Ukraine as a buffer, but occupying all of Ukraine takes that out. Does it serve Russia better to occupy and integrate just the ethnic Russian majority areas and leave the rest of Ukraine as a neutralised buffer?

A long occupation of Ukraine will lead to a guerilla war that will inevitably entail support from across the NATO borders. Putin has to make quick decisions and not get bogged down in Ukraine.

"That includes activation of elements of the Rapid Response Force, which in principle can call on 40,000 troops, and the “very high readiness joint task force,” which is essentially a land brigade numbering around 5,000 troops, NATO’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, said…

…in a news conference after the summit meeting.

Those deployments, to enhance deterrence and reassure allies on the borders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, would involve thousands of troops, some of them from the United States, and more than 100 jets put on high alert in 30 locations, he said.

The response force is being used for the first time “in the collective defense context,” Mr. Stoltenberg said."

nytimes.com/live/2022/02/2…