GREENSBORO, N.C. — Officials think Russia could invade Ukraine as early as this weekend.
U.S. officials believe Russia has recently added as many as 7,000 troopers to the Ukraine border as new satellite images show heightened military activity.
Why is this happening? What could this mean for the U.S.?
Dr. Victor Archibong is the chair of the Department of Political Science at Greensboro College. He said this is all about geopolitics.
He said Ukraine would like to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO, but Russia doesn't want that to happen.
"The Russians are afraid that if they have a perceived enemy on their border, that doesn't bode well for them," Dr. Archibong said.
If you look at a map of that region, you can see that Ukraine borders Russia. Dr. Archibong said Russia wants surrounding countries to fall in line with their type of rule.
Looking into the geopolitics of that region, Dr. Archibong said to pay attention to Poland and Belarus.
He said Poland is a part of NATO, but Russia is ok with that because Belarus acts as a buffer. He said Belarus is very similar to Russia.
Dr. Archibong said he's worried what would happen next if Russia does destabilize Ukraine.
"If they take control of the Black Sea, Turkey is threatened and Turkey is a member of NATO. So you can see the implication. The whole region will be destabilized. So that is what is at stake. It's not just Ukraine, itself, it's the consequences of taking over Ukraine," Dr. Archibong said.
There are many Russians currently living in Ukraine, specifically in the Eastern region. Dr. Archibong said many of them support Putin.
Over here in the U.S., this could affect our economy. According to GasBuddy, Russia is the second largest oil producer globally. If Russia does invade, we can expect our gas prices to go up.
Dr. Archibong also said we get a lot of our metals for manufacturing from Ukraine.
"I would hope that we as Americans would realize that the world is still very unstable. That what is happening in the world today is a struggle between utilitarianism and democracy," Dr. Archibong said.