I’ll take a stab at that. Due to the green agenda, and farming out their emissions to a third-party (Russia), so that the EU can pose for woke selfies, while shutting down their own petroleum/coal/nuclear industries to have a third party provide further energy needs….Putin would have been been put into a position of thinking potentially, “what are they gonna do? Gamble on me, turning off the taps?” Or something along those lines? I’m assuming this was a contributing factor….& I know…ass/u/me etc…
Perhaps that’s where Pgs was coming from?
If Putin were sane, pipelines to India and China would have been built before trying any energy game with Europe.
For once Biden didnt stutter when saying "there wont be any Nordstream" long before the 3 day special military operation. Preparations were already underway for alternative engry sources for Europe while Putin was amassing forces.
Putin thought it was a sure 3 day win. If Ukraine didnt wipe out the Russian elite airborne in the
Battle of Hostomel, it would have been over in days.
That one battle changed Putins plans forever.
As Hostomel is located just outside Kyiv, around 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away, and could give quick access to the capital, it was strategically important.
[6] In the
time leading up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) obtained detailed information about Russian attack plans. CIA director
William J. Burns travelled to Ukraine in January 2022, and informed the Ukrainian leadership that Russia intended to capture Antonov Airport for an
airbridge, which would allow Russian forces to quickly move into Kyiv to "decapitate the government".
[22] According to
Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of
Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence, banker
Denys Kireyev obtained information on 23 February 2022 from Russian sources that the
Russian invasion of Ukraine would begin on 24 February and that Antonov Airport would be the site of the main attack of the invasion.
[23] Analysts believed that
President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the rest of the Russian leadership assumed that such a quick operation would throw Ukraine into disarray, resulting in the collapse of the Ukrainian military and allowing Russia to install a puppet government. Madison Policy Forum analyst John Spencer argued that this would have secured a military victory for Russia, albeit probably producing a massive Ukrainian insurgency.
[24] However, the warnings by the CIA and Kireyev helped the Ukrainian military to prepare for an attack on Antonov Airport.
[21][23][25] Regardless, the airport only held a small garrison of about 300
National Guard troops, as the remainder had been moved to the frontline in eastern Ukraine.
[1] The setup of defenses at the airport and its garrisoning was hindered by the Antonov State Enterprise whose leadership initially blocked the entry of National Guard troops. The Ukrainian military was only able to fully garrison the airport on 23 February, one day before the Russian invasion.
[26]