What Putin wants in the Russia-Ukraine standoff ? and how he could get it

It also wants NATO to roll back its military deployments in the region.​​ The demands would significantly redraw Europe’s security landscape and have been largely dismissed by Washington and the military alliance.Putin’s statements on Ukraine’s history and statehood have given rise to a view among Russia observers that he sees Ukraine as “unfinished business” and wants to follow the seizure of Crimea with further action to bring the country back under Moscow’s influence, as he entertains an ambition to reconstitute a Moscow-led Eastern bloc reminiscent of Soviet times.“He is personally, deeply and emotionally invested in recovering Russia’s former power over his neighbors,” said Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the London-based think tank Chatham House. The end result would be a continent that is dominated by Russian military power and held at risk by Russian missiles, he added.The growing number of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border and now in Belarus has been the “hypnotist’s watch” for the West, Giles said, accomplishing a Kremlin goal of “terrifying” the U.S. and its Western allies into opening negotiations with Russia on the future security of Europe — a topic that “ought to be off the table.” Ukraine is just an “unfortunate victim and the most convenient place for Putin to mount his demands with menaces,” according to Giles.His comments echoed those of Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko, who told Russia’s TV Rain on Saturday that Moscow was using Ukraine as a “pain point” to blackmail the West.Putin’s motivation also could include a desire to shore up his base at home — a popular military victory as a way to distract from domestic problems.His popularity among Russians spiked after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.“Putin would, no doubt, be happy to be able to present a foreign policy victory over the West, whether it is real or illusory, in the run-up to his reanointment as president in 2024,” Giles said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken appealed to that in a speech in Berlin last week, warning Russians about “a pointless war” with their neighbor and “young people who will risk or even give their lives to it.”Maintaining tension over Ukraine also helps Putin reinforce his image of a resolute defender of Russia’s interests at home.“He wants to elevate his own status and Russia’s status in the international area, and consolidate recognition of the exclusivity of Russia’s interests,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based political analyst and head of the Penta Center, think tank.