After six months of bloody and terrible war, what exactly does Putin want from Ukraine? | Philip Short

Russia is trying to demonstrate that Nato is powerless to stop it. Whether it succeeds depends on the west's political will as energy prices soar

Nearly six months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there is still widespread disagreement in the west on Vladimir Putin's motives.

This is of more than academic interest. If we do not agree why Putin decided to invade Ukraine and what he wants to achieve, we cannot define what would constitute victory or defeat for either of the warring sides and the contours of a possible endgame.

Philip Short has written authoritative biographies including Putin: His Life and Times, Mao: A Life and Pol Pot: History of a Nightmare, following a long career as a foreign correspondent for the BBC in Moscow, Washington and other world capitals