Better to try to negotiate than fan the flames. At least Chamberlain tried.i don’t understand people who think countries have a responsibility to protect other countries.
Russia said no negotiations unless it can keep what it stole.
So there you go, no negotiations possible. Take it up with Putin.
Well, one chunk of it is to prevent a situation where everybody is continuously spending 20% of their GDP on defense and / or (since WW2) anyone capable is nuking up.
From a longer perspective, alliances have been a feature of human behavior for as long as we have been capable of forming them.
Also, countries ally to work to complementary strengths, block long term threats, etc.
For example, if Ukraine is successfully defended, development of its very large mineral/ energy resources can recommence, to the vast benefit of “The West”, Ukraine, and much of the world, but NOT so much Russia. And of course there’s the competing agriculture resource too.