All this jockeying is primarily about the destination of the two big states on the fault line between Europe and Russia: the Ukraine and Turkey.

In the longer term Turkey doesn’t belong in NATO (it’s an unreliable ally and isn’t wanted in the EU) and the Ukraine does.

Russia is as usual doing a good job of uniting its opponents in ways they were not able to achieve by themselves.

The Ukraine poses a potential existential threat to the Russian regime. Should a westernized Kiev become more prosperous than Moscow (only 470 miles away) then Russians will quickly begin to wonder whether their oligarchical class is worth what it’s costing them.