so it s unclear to me what putin really wants to get out of this if he doesn t intend to invade. maybe he does intend to invade. maybe this is all a lot of throat clearing until he gets forces in there. but there are reasons to think he wouldn t. a full-scale invasion could be disastrous for russia. they would be stuck trying to occupy a country that doesn t want them there with 45 million people who have guns and know how to fight. or he loves this visual. vladimir putin, whose country has an economy roughly the size of italy s, is standing off against the all powerful nato. ben, i want to read part of an op-ed from fiona hill, former russian intelligence officer. she writes, if mr. putin invades ukraine with no punitive action from the west and the rest of the international community, beyond financial sanctions, we will have set a precedent for future actions by other countries. the headline here is that putin has the u.s. right where he wants it, and he doesn t have to