Its not propaganda. Zelensky himself stated not long ago that he had “cooled down” about Ukraine’s bid to join NATO. So NATO membership has been a goal for some time.
A country in our hemisphere wanting to enter into a defensive military alliance with Russia would never be tolerated by the U.S. Cuba comes immediately to mind. We would view it as a serious threat, not unlike how Russia views Ukraine. Rightly or wrongly, its all about geopolitical realities. Zelensky’s unrealistic desires have led to much destruction within his own country — and now a growing economic problem for Europe.
Was bringing us closer to WW III worth it?
This has never been about NATO. Putin has said himself Ukraine is an illigimate nation and Ukraine does not have an authentic culture. Putin is a Russian supremacist who considers all of the former USSR to be Russian property.
NATO was an option rather than goal Ukrainians. They’ve always been focused on EU membership. The Ukrainians would be fine with a deal like Switzerland has.
Putin can’t even beat Ukrainian farmers. I serious doubt he’s contemplating WW3 with NATO given that.
It was a goal since the Orange Revolution. If you’ll recall, it was started by Victor Yuschenko started it as a Ukrainian goal right before he was poisoned and miraculously survived.