Why are Russia and Ukraine on the brink of war?

ANU experts have offered a minefield of scenarios as the Russian president plays mind games over a potential war with Ukraine. Russian president Vladimir Putin is playing mind games with the rest of the world over a potential war with Ukraine, a leading expert from The Australian National University (ANU) says. But, it's just one of a number of factors in a minefield of scenarios that could spark major conflict. What is triggering a potential war between Ukraine and Russia? The threat of war in the European hotspot is nothing new, according to Research Fellow at the ANU Centre for European Studies Dr Sonia Mycak, who says more than 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have already been killed in a war started by Russia eight years ago. "It is easy to see the amassing of Russian troops and weaponry along the border with Ukraine as a recent act of aggression," Mycak says. "However, Ukraine has been in a war started by Russia for eight years, ever since Russian forces occupied Crimea and invaded eastern Ukraine." Emeritus Professor Paul Dibb from the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre says the mindset of Russian president Vladimir Putin is also a key trigger point. "We need to begin by recalling what happened to the Soviet Union as it collapsed in 1991 and how this calamity continues to dominate thinking in the Kremlin," Dibb says.