I bet if Putin just folds his tent and goes home...the Ukranians won't pursue him! therefore the road is not a difficult path to take.
All Putin has to do..is take it !
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Putin and the Russians are already in their country, they never left. We left ours. Report today is the Russians are leaving field positions and returning to base.
I believe a deal has been made with Zalensky that Ukraine will remain neutral. And a deal with Biden over a Helium gas exchange for Dunham proceeding with indictments. The USA has run out of Helium which is necessary to run the internet and all sorts of high tech. Russia has world's greatest supply of Helium. In exchange Russia will be exonerated from all Trump collusion charges, and Biden doesn't to have destroy Ukraine where his and the Swamp's crime syndicate is based, where the election steal was run, and where the DNC servers are based. Some people are getting thrown under the bus.
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It actually looks like the US had the largest supply of helium, however it would take a perhaps Chinese bought congress to open up the drilling for it.
As you said, it will become more and more critical as time goes on, which leads one to think some crooked politician will sell it to the Chinese...for a slice. (Remember Hillary and the uranium to Russia)
Here's the helium world distribution... China 2%, Canada 3%, Russia 12%..while we have 35%.. rest belongs to Arab countries..
https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i30/helium-way.html