The Global Questions Series - Number 1: The Russia-Ukraine War - Part 2

Crimea, Suwalki, Prigozhin, Non-Negotiables, and The Beginning Of The End

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Territory – Why Russia Still Fights For It?

3. Poland, The Baltics, Belarus, and The Suwalki Gap

4. Not Another Russian Coup!

5. Prigozhin’s Days Were Numbered

6. East and West Ukraine – The Problems

7. The Russia-Ukraine Paradoxes – What Can’t Be Solved?

8. Where We’re Heading In The World?

9. Biden-Xi Meeting and Its Relevance To Russia-Ukraine

10. Concluding Remarks

11. Sources

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Introduction

It's difficult to know when to release a piece on a topic that is constantly developing. However, with Ukraine practically fading into the background after the onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict, now is the time. I’ve spent the last few months writing this update on the Russia-Ukraine war as a part of the Global Questions Series, where I seek to answer the deepest questions we have to face in our world and create potential solutions to these issues, together. You can access this with a free 7-day trial of my premium content.

We find ourselves at a long-drawn-out standstill in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Neither side is making much progress, and as always in the history of their wars, Russia eventually finds victory after a long, drawn-out conflict with immense suffering. Are we heading there again? And to flashback to part one of my global questions series on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, why is Russia fighting for territory at all?

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Territory – Why Russia Still Fights For It?

Crimea was annexed separately from the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, annexing the peninsula back in 2014. This gave Russia greater access to the Black Sea, an area in which it would like to increase its influence. The Black Sea stretches into the Mediterranean, which has access to the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the resources of the Mediterranean. Stretching out into these increases maritime spheres of influence. Russia aspires to achieve such a thing.

Why did Russia pursue Crimea? Firstly, it gives them access to more ports that don’t freeze in winter, specifically those on the Kerch Strait.

We’ve seen through my maritime weekly updates a few months ago, that many vessels travel back and forth between Rostov-on-Don and Port Kavkaz on the Kerch Strait, likely shipping supplies for Crimea or the war effort in Ukraine.