Putin may not have lost the war, but he certainly hasn’t won it yet.
As far as keeping nato away from it’s borders, if it conquers Ukraine, it will have nato on it’s border.
“if (Russia) conquers Ukraine, it will have nato on it’s border.”
Depends on what you call “Russia”. If NATO is facing a bunch of Ukrainian Nazis in the west of what was Ukraine, then I doubt Russia will see this as NATO on their southern border.