“Failing now means Putin will salami slice his way into NATO. “
I don’t know about that.
His display of conventional military power hasn’t been exactly a shining star - something to fear by NATO, or at least the US. But for the possession of nuclear weapons, and his using them against NATO to achieve the salami would be suicidal. Putin doesn’t appear to be that insane.
“His display of conventional military power hasn’t been exactly a shining star - something to fear by NATO, or at least the US.”
Or that Ukraine was very well armed and trained by the West, hence validating Putin’s concern (not to mention the non-stop talk of them joining NATO).
The question is why that was done by us?