Russia could use failed talks with US and NATO as 'pretext' for invading Ukraine, experts and officials warn

Putin, another expert warned, may feel it necessary to achieve something beyond seizing the world's attention with his threats and troop build-up.

"They certainly set the table to be able to do that. And, it is up to Putin," Townsend said. "If he feels that he's not going to get anything out of this, certainly not something that he could point to as a success, a big success, if he feels that he's just getting crumbs, then he almost has to go into Ukraine."

That said, he explained, the question then is what does Putin get out of invading Ukraine.


"This really isn't about Ukraine anymore. Ukraine kind of started this off, but this is much more about the overall security architecture in Europe," Jeffrey Edmonds, a Russia expert at CNA and a former CIA military analyst, told Insider. "This was about Ukraine. Ukraine's a symptom of a much deeper problem that they have to solve."


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