After weeks of warning by the West, Russia has invaded Ukraine, prompting what

many fear could turn into the content's most traumatic conflict since the Second World War.

Putin is the aggressor.

Putin chose this war, and now he and his country will bear the consequences.

Putin's aggression against Ukraine will end up costing Russia dearly economically and strategically.

Welcome to Payne's Politics, your insider guide to what's happening in British politics from the Financial Times, with me Sebastian Payne.

But in this week's episode, we'll be devoted to the Ukraine War, which was described by US President Joe Biden at the top.

We'll be analyzing why Russia invaded the situation on the ground as of Friday.

The backlash in Ukraine and also Russia and how the coming weeks are expected to pan out.

Max Eden, our Moscow bureau chief, joins us down the line, along with the FTZ of Editor Ben Hall, who's in the studio with me.

And later, we'll dive into the international response to Russia's invasion, what military support it is offering through NATO,

and whether the sanctions, particularly those from the UK, go far enough, and what sort of impact the war might have here back at home.

Political editor George Parker and political and diplomatic correspondent Laura Hughes will analyze.

It's been a dark week for Europe.

Russia has amassed armies and military equipment on the border with Ukraine for some time, but Western powers had hoped it would not follow through with a full-scale invasion.

From the US to France to the UK, leaders had hoped that President Vladimir Putin could be dissuaded and diplomacy would win out.

But it was not to be. Troops entered Ukraine under his orders on Monday, and a full-scale invasion commenced on Thursday.

Antonio Gutierrez, Secretary-General of the United Nations, signed up the international mood with a final but failed plea.

President Putin, in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia.

In the name of humanity, do not allow to start in Europe what could be the worst war since the beginning of the century.

Well, Ben Hall, thank you very much for joining us on the podcast. Can you begin just by giving us a bit of the background about how we've got to this moment both in the last year or so, but also maybe going a little bit further back to 2014?

Well, Vladimir Putin has an obsession, a fixation about Ukraine, and that has been apparent for a very long time, but was laid bare in angry terms when he gave his war speech to the Russian people on Monday night this week.

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