Who is responsible for the war

in Ukraine? 

If we listen to "the most powerful man in the free world" it seems that the President of Ukraine is.  It is not the President of Russia. Apparently it is all President Zelensky's fault. He started it and he has had three years to sort out the mess.

Really? Yes, apparently Zelensky chose to annoy Putin with his moves closer to the rest of Europe and his moves to start negotiating potential membership of NATO. EU membership was there too. It was what the people of Ukraine wanted. They wanted to move further away from Russia. They were, rightly, worried by Putin's move on Crimea.

Putin, and many of his closest supporters, wanted a return to the old Soviet state. Ukraine looked like easy pickings. He had taken Crimea with not more than a whimper from Ukraine and the rest of the world. He seems to have believed he could take the rest the same way. All it would take was another land grab in the east of the country and a demand for mineral wealth to be handed over. Ukraine would then be happy to rejoin the Soviet motherland. That was his thinking. He did not expect there to be such fierce opposition. 

It is important to him to win. He has gambled billions of dollars and countless lives on winning. He has always said that this is not a war he is waging. It is simply a "special military operation".  There are still people in Russia who believe this. Even those who do not are not going to protest too loudly - not unless they want to fall from a hotel window or end up in a penal colony.  Inside the Kremlin and around him he has many loyal supporters. Their lives depend on supporting him and his closest aides. 

Putin has plans to go on from there and move on to retake the Baltic states by economic force if not military force. He needs the money. He needs the strategic capability. It is all a huge gamble but one he believes he will win, especially with the help and support of the President of the United States. He sees Trump as an ally. Despite statements to the contrary it is unlikely he sees Trump as a friend. At best it is a "friendship" of convenience. Putin is closer to Kim and Xi. 

If anyone seriously believes that Zelensky started the war that has caused so much death and destruction in his country then please explain this to me.