“Nonsense. He invaded Ukraine because he knew NATO wouldn’t react.”
How is my comment nonsense? Ukraine is not in NATO, so why would it react?. Putin used as an excuse for invasion that he didn’t want a NATO country on his border. Yet, he has four. How come he didn’t invade those countries before they joined NATO?
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine had nothing to do with NATO.
I misread your comment. It wasn’t nonsense. Putin does fear NATO but in the sense that Ukraine as a NATO member puts an end to his ambition to take parts of Ukraine. I think Putin dreams of a Greater Russia (and isn’t trying to reconstitute the Soviet Union), but the reality is that Russia isn’t going to be that much greater than it is now. Some parts of Ukraine will be likely be added, maybe Belarus later on, possibly Moldova eventually if Putin thinks the latter two are worth the bother.