Mafia protection racket.
View attachment 18887
Think I alluded to it ages back, and others too.
No one gives a brick about the land/country, except Ukraine, in the slightest.
Russia wanted the buffer zone.
The West wanted it for extension of the ""NATO border"" and the minerals.
There is a reason no-one gave a flying fudge during the eight years of conflict after Russia annexed Crimea. They had to react when Russia invaded en masse and were given the opportunity.