Put yourself in Putin's shoes. "Ok, let the bastards go. A few years down the track i'll invade to save those Russians from persecution too. Just like i've done Ukraine. Hey, this could work out better than i thought a couple of weeks ago. Make a note to plan a referendum in Kazakhstan in say 2028??" Thinking something like that. Just a thought.
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”