Why does Vladimir Putin care so much about Ukraine anyway

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00:00So why does Vladimir Putin care so much about Ukraine anyway?

00:04First, the big one, it's Russia versus the West.

00:07Since the Cold War, the alliance of countries naming itself NATO

00:10has been expanding closer and closer to Russia.

00:13NATO has 30 member countries around the world now,

00:15including five that share some kind of border with Russia.

00:19And Ukraine wants to be a part of NATO,

00:21which could pose a direct threat, according to Putin, right on his border.

00:24And Russia is still the native language for about a third of the population of Ukraine,

00:28so there are a lot of sympathizers to any sort of alliances or policies with Russia.

00:32Number two, gas has been an explosive issue between Russia and Ukraine for years.

00:37NBC News points out Russia still controls about a third of the gas supply

00:41for all of the entire European Union,

00:43about half of which flows in a pipeline through, you guessed it, Ukraine.

00:47And a third big reason why military experts believe Putin is poised for an invasion,

00:52it's just Putin being Putin.

00:53He once called the breakup of the Soviet Union,

00:55the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the last century,

00:58and has devoted his presidency to restoring Moscow's influence in this post-Soviet world.

01:04People who study these things believe defying the West in ally is exactly Putin's MO.

01:09It's forcing the U.S. to engage with Putin again,

01:11which is exactly what the country wants.

01:13Experts and military analysts are divided on whether Putin wants to engage in a full-fledged war with Ukraine,

01:19but the White House believes an official invasion has already begun.

01:25Before they chuyển into one of the places,

01:29there are llegar to be