Why Putin invaded, in his own words
In June 2022, Putin stated the mission in Ukraine was about returning Ukraine to Russia. Putin made no mention of NATO or a threat from NATO, nor any other false claims about the reasons for the invasion.
An article that was published early in the war, when Russia had yet to realize it would fail to take Kyiv in three days, was filled with grandiose imperialist visions. This article also lacked any mention of NATO and makes clear the invasion was one of choice:
Did someone in the old European capitals, in Paris and Berlin, seriously believe that Moscow would give up Kiev?
NATO countries accounted for 6% of the Russian border before the invasion of Ukraine, which spurred countries to join NATO. More importantly, unlike Russia, NATO countries have no history of offensive aggression or invasion.
Russia has invaded and attacked several countries offensively in the past 20 years, while NATO has not because it’s a defensive alliance.
- Russia frequently misrepresents a NATO mission to end a year-long genocide in the former Yugoslavia, and it mimics NATO discussion about the licit use of force to discuss the invasion of Ukraine.
