Okay thanks for explaining that to me. And lastly id be really surprised myself if the sanctions only applied to DNR and LNR — I’m sure more are being drawn up if they haven’t already.
TBH I think they will be saving this if Putin decides to further advance in Ukraine. The whole situation has been poorly handled by NATO ever since the Crimea got annexed 8 years ago. It was swept under the carpet.
Any severe sanctions at this point towards Russia essentially also kill off Ukraine's economy. It's an agricultural country as well, so when fertilizers and energy go up, on top of the brink of invasion and still recovering from pandemic situation would be too much to handle. Might go on and start a civil war in both sides of the border(Russia and Ukraine). This would have also a devastating effect on Europe economy too, especially in Eastern European countries, which might cause further rift in the EU.
Essentially Putin blinked first, but don't expect him to go full bananas yet and probably will wait, which will work in his way I guess.
Best case scenario is Putin (70) loses power sooner than later, but considering his stronghold over almost 3 decades is really unlikely unfortunately.