Ukraine Crisis and Putin: Putin is now on the cusp of his invasion of Ukraine.

It should come as no surprise that Putin is upping the ante on his war front with Ukraine.

As reported by Paul Sonne,Robyn Dixon and David L. Stern,

"A renewed buildup of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border has raised concern among some officials in the United States and Europe who are tracking what they consider irregular movements of equipment and personnel on Russia’s western flank.
........
The renewed movements of Russian forces in the area come as the Kremlin embraces a harder line on Ukraine. Russian officials from President Vladimir Putin on down have escalated their rhetoric in recent months, attacking Kyiv’s Western ties and even questioning its sovereignty. Putin has warned that any expansion of NATO military infrastructure on Ukrainian territory represents a “red line” for Moscow." (Washington Post : 30 October 2021) (my emphasis) (cf also video below: Youtube : 1 November 2021)

As also reported by Betsy Woodruff Swan and Paul McCleary,

"New commercial satellite photos taken on Monday confirm recent reports that Russia is once again massing troops and military equipment on the border with Ukraine after a major buildup this spring." (Politico: 1 November 2021) (my emphasis)

Amy Mackinnon (right) further reports that,

"U.S officials are closely monitoring Russian military activity near the border with Ukraine, which has sparked concern about Moscow’s intentions after months of escalating tensions between the two countries.

Videos and public satellite imagery that began circulating online in late October show a substantial quantity of Russian military equipment being moved near the border with Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have waged war against the Ukrainian military since 2014. " (Financial Times : 1 November 2021) (my emphasis)

As reported by Maria Kiselyova, we now have that dyed-in-the-wool Soviet foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov (left),

" [accusing] Ukrainian leaders on Monday of trying to drag Moscow into the conflict in eastern Ukraine, following an escalation in fighting between government forces and rebels in the breakaway region.

"We observe attempts to carry out provocations, elicit some reaction from the militia and drag Russia into some kind of combat action," Sergei Lavrov told Russia's state television." (Reuters : 1 November 2021) (my emphasis)

This Soviet-style false accusation of Lavrov is, no doubt, a knee-jerk response to Ukraine now receiving sophisticated drones from Turkey.

As reported by Dorian Jones,

"Russia is warning Turkey over arms sales to Ukraine after a Turkish-made drone attacked Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine.

A Kremlin spokesman has warned that Turkey's ongoing arms sales to Ukraine threaten to destabilize the region." (VOA News : 28 October 2021) (my emphasis)

As Dmytro Kuleba writes,

"As NATO mulls over its strategy in the Black Sea region and seeks to ensure stability and security in what is an increasingly turbulent environment, Ukraine and Turkey are providing a model worth emulating by actively strengthening their strategic partnership via deepening political, military, and technical cooperation....." (Atlantic Council : 28 October 2021) (my emphasis) (left: Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Dmytro Kuleba : Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Ukraine)

What is further maddening Putin is the fact that, as reported by Roman Olearchyk, Max Seddon, and David Sheppard,

"Europe risks giving in to Russia if Germany approves the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as a condition for more gas supplies from Moscow, the head of Ukraine’s state energy company has said.
.......
“If anyone has any doubts about it, then Putin is telling everyone to their face: ‘You allow NS2 to become operational or you won’t get any more gas’,” Vitrenko said.

“He wants to reverse the clock and go back to the situation that we had 10, 20, 30 years ago . . . to negotiate special conditions with politicians of different countries.”

As gas prices have soared to record highs in the past two months, markets have moved frequently in response to comments from Moscow in the hope that Gazprom, Russia’s state-run gas monopoly, will increase supplies to Europe." (Financial Times : 1 November 2021) (my emphasis)

Irina Reznik and Henry Meyer (left) have also reported that,

“Putin senses an opportunity from the [gas] crisis [in the EU],” said Andrei Kortunov, head of the Kremlin-founded Russian International Affairs Council. “Russia wants to prevent the EU from dragging its feet on certifying Nord Stream 2 and start talks on long-term stable prices for gas.” (BNN Bloomberg : 13 October 2021) (my emphasis)

And on cue, Germany is supporting Putin in his urgent desire to get Nord Sream2 Certified to pump gas into the EU.

As reported by Joseph Nasr and Christoph Steitz,

"Allowing Nord Stream 2 to pump Russian gas to Germany will not threaten supplies to the European Union, the German Economy Ministry said on Tuesday, clearing a major hurdle for the disputed pipeline.

While the pipeline is ready to start operations, it still needs to be certified by Germany's Federal Network Agency and the ministry's supply analysis is a key requirement for the regulator to continue that process.

"In its analysis the Federal Economy Ministry concludes that granting certification is not threatening security of gas supply to the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Union," the ministry said in a statement." (Reuters : 24 October 2012) (my emphasis)