It does seem Putin is playing chess and the West is playing checkers.

I tend to see the logic of the Russian position, that they had their reality check with the fall of the Soviet Union and are more concerned with national defence, than empire building. They have a very large country and medium sized population, with plenty of resources and a very positive balance of payments situation. While the West is driven by a corporate state that needs to keep building on its debt fueled financial ponzi scheme and can't afford to back down to anyone, or the bubble of leveraged debt will start going in reverse. So Russia and Chine do pose an existential threat, yet by going hysterical over Ukraine, they are creating a situation where Putin wins by not invading and leaving the West looking like the little boy crying wolf.

From the Ukrainian point of view, the geography is never going to change and Russia will always be there, but American attention is fleeting, beyond the next election cycle. So it would seem this would be a good time for Ukraine to cut a deal with the Russians, since Putin might be willing to give more now, than Ukraine will get in the future, if he gets to kick a little sand in the West's face.

It seems to me that if anyone actually wants to understand current Russian military strategy, it isn't the propaganda of the various sides that should be considered, but the one place Russia has been militarily involved the last 7 years, Syria. Where they have been extremely tactically restrained.