100 days of Ukraine war

Russia-Ukraine war overturns Europe's pet beliefs

Ukrainian soldiers travelling on an armoured vehicle near the front line in the Donetsk region last week. PHOTO: NYTIMES
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LONDON - When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine, he dismissed Western warnings about the dire consequences of the invasion as just noise.

After all, the West made similar warnings in 2008 when Russian troops invaded Georgia and in 2014, when Mr Putin's soldiers seized parts of Ukraine. But weeks after these conflicts ended, Western leaders were travelling again to Moscow as though nothing had happened.

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