Yeah I don't see how it's in our national interest to go to war with Russia over a strip of Ukrainian territory.

This isn't part of a broader push by Putin to try to take over the world, or even Ukraine for that matter. He's doing this because the western powers have essentially laid claim to Ukraine (via prospective EU and NATO membership).

Or put more simply, Russia doesn't want the Ukraine turning fully blue on this map. Russia views this as an encroachment, so they're putting up some obstacles to stop it.

The way NATO works is that if any member country is attacked, all the other members have to jump in and defend them. That's the essence of NATO. What Putin is doing here is creating a scenario where NATO can't allow Ukraine to become a member without simultaneously committing NATO to guaranteed war with Russia. And it appears to be working.

A lot of people don't get that the West's push eastward didn't end with the cold war. It's still going on to this day. What we're seeing in east Ukraine right now is the pushback.

We all need to stop and ask our governments why we're still pushing east and whether it's worth it? Are we trying to topple Russia or something? What's going on here and why?