@LVRebel give us some commentary on whats going on. What is the likelihood that war breaks out? Or do you see a possibility of peaceful resolution?
I'm not an expert, but just trying to stay up to date on it. The way things look right now, from what I'm seeing:
-Putin recognized these 2 Ukrainian areas as independent states, and therefore not part of the Ukraine anymore.
-Based on that notion, he sent in military forces to those areas to protect these independent states from any 'attack' by Ukraine. Of course, this is all dependent on which side you're standing on. It would be like Canada trying to take Maine from the USA, saying that they recognize it as an Independent state, so they sent in their military to protect Maine from any response from the evil USA. These 2 areas of Ukraine have had a heavy Russian presence for a while though, so it's a pretty soft spot for them to come into.
-Putin, in his TV address, noted that Ukraine shouldn't even be in existence, and basically making the case that the whole region should be part of Russia.
-In regards to the 2 'independent' states, there's questions as to what is considered their border. The west end of both of those states is what they're calling the Donbas region (see map below). Putin claims that Donetsk and Luhansk territories include the Donbas region, but I don't believe that Ukraine has the same belief.
-In listening to Putin's talks, it sounds like he has it in his mind to take all of Ukraine, but that could just be a bargaining chip that he's trying to use. Ask for the world, then settle for less, which may be what he had in mind anyways. Maybe not though since he's an egomaniac.
- Questions now include things like:
1. How will Ukraine respond to these advances by Russian military. It's claimed now that Ukraine doesn't want to respond so that it's clear that they're not the aggressor and the one starting an armed conflict in this case. I'm not sure how it could seem that way, since Russia is deploying their troops into these 2 regions of Ukraine. As I said before though, it's semantics in regards to whether or not they two states are independent, or part of Ukraine, and depends which side you think it correct.
2. How will the UN and NATO respond, even though Ukraine is not in NATO.
3. How will the US respond?
4. Where is the red line that, if Russia crosses, will result in actual physical war?
It seems that most countries, including the US, will take the side of Ukraine and sanction Russia pretty heavily for now, but at some point, I'm guessing that the Ukraine gov't will respond militarily, and there will be military conflict.