So, what did we learn from the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014? What we learnt was that Russia saw western nations as weak and divided. Sure, some countries made a few grandiose statements and that was about it – nothing to worry about. The Kremlin was basically given a green light to invade after the debacle of Crimea. This follows the western diplomatic messaging after the invasion of Georgia in 2008 and Chechnya between 1999 to 2009.

Putin took control of Georgia, then Chechnya before sending in a contingent of special operations forces and Spetsnaz GRU to Crimea without insignia known as the little green men. Apparently they were very polite and made no attempts to integrate into daily Crimean life, they did not initially seem all that disruptive. What they did seize control of Crimea pretty much unopposed, then they turned their attention to the Donbas region supporting a Russian led separatist movement.

Between then, Russia had operations in Syria supporting President Assad and the destruction brought upon the Syrian people was despicable. The Russian policy of destruction to subdue a population by turning their cities into rubble will not work this time. Finally the international community has taken action to censure Moscow and applied harsh sanctions against this authoritarian regime.

The size of the country, the size of their military and the size of their economy does not correlate, they are not a superpower and may soon not qualify for membership of the G20. The best primary action against the Russian invasion of Ukraine is financial sanctions, NATO is not involved but closely monitors the situation militarily. NATO nations led by the US supply weapons to Ukraine allowing the country to defend itself, whilst still trailing Russia in overall terms of weapons and manpower, they are a far more effective military.