War in Ukraine
The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Opinion Putin warned the West 15 years ago. Now, in Ukraine, he’s poised to wage war.

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Columnist|
February 20, 2022 at 5:59 p.m. EST
With the sound of artillery fire in the distance, Ukrainian soldiers wait to check the documents of people crossing at a checkpoint between government-controlled Ukraine and the separatist-held Luhansk territory in Stanytsia Luhanska, Ukraine, on Feb. 19. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)
5 min

MUNICH — The terrible war that seems about to shatter Ukraine has been taking shape in the mind of Russian President Vladimir Putin at least since a speech he gave denouncing NATO at the annual security conference here 15 years ago.

“NATO has put its front-line forces on our borders,” Putin complained, bemoaning the alliance’s eastward expansion. Citing what he claimed were Western promises not to move east of Germany, he said, with bitter sarcasm: “We have the right to ask: Against whom is this expansion intended?”