Well it is wildly reckless gamble by Putin and a PR disaster to say the least.
So is it possible that Putin felt hemmed in, pushed to the end of his tether, seemed to have only a choice of war now, or war later under worse conditions ? , , , because of NATO expansion and the arming and training of Ukraine's military and the constantly expanding US/NATO military exercises in the Black sea and on Russia's borders. And the point blank refusal of Biden and Blinken to even sit down and negotiate ?
Even at the height of the cold war US Presidents would regularly phone up and talk with their Russian counterparts.
