According to political scientist Paul D’Anieri, Russia had the following four causes to start its war with Ukraine in 2014, as well as for the 2022 war: Russia’s desire to regain control of Ukraine, its conception of itself as a great power, the security dilemma in Europe, and democratic Ukraine being a threat
Russia’s demands were Ukraine’s recognition of Russian-occupied Crimea, independence for separatist-controlled Luhansk and Donetsk, and “de-militarisation” and “de-Nazification”.
The Ukrainian president has accused Vladimir Putin of “lying to everyone” about the situation in the Russian province of Kursk and seeking to prolong the war. In an X post on Saturday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia’s president was lying “about the situation on the ground, especially about what’s happening in the Kursk region”. He said Ukrainian troops were still fending off Russian and North Korean forces in the area but face a potential new attack on Sumy in Ukraine’s north-east. He said Kyiv’s troops were not encircled in Kursk, as has been claimed by Russia, but that Moscow was accumulating forces nearby for a separate strike. “The buildup of Russian forces indicates that Moscow intends to keep ignoring diplomacy,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hopes the United States will apply “maximum additional sanctions” on Russia if it refuses to accept a 30-day ceasefire and described Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “bravado” response as a stalling tactic.

“The Russians say, for example, ‘We support a ceasefire, but …’ And then after the ‘but,’ they start coming with various details to delay the process,” Zelenskyy said Friday in a meeting with Ukrainian and international news media,