Before the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting in Moscow, outlined to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz the reasons he had concocted to justify his decision, according to Ukrinform. Scholz shared details of his four-hour meeting with Putin in the Kremlin in February 2022 during a discussion with citizens as part of the Democracy Festival. According to Scholz, Putin laid out his imperial views, including the belief that the borders of sovereign countries can be changed by force. Putin tried to persuade Scholz that Ukraine and Belarus are p…