I read the article and all comments; Mitchell Peterson is correct that it is about money.

The real money that matter is in the hands of financiers who loan money to governments. Their names are behind a convoluted banking system, and we do not find them on the list of billionaires published by Forbes. I would not be surprised if people with real money told Putin that they would mitigate sanctions against Russia if it invades Ukraine, knowing that they would do otherwise. This way, they loaned a lot of money to the West governments to buy military hardware.

As a Polish saying goes, Mitchell Peterson heard the bells toll but did not know from which church.

My last article explains the politics of the war in Ukraine. For readers seeking a deeper understanding, I published eight articles about Russia and Ukraine this year.