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.
Of course its mostly about NATO. Look at a map and note Ukraine’s strategic position and how far eastward it protrudes. Parts of Ukraine are only about 350 miles from Moscow. A relatively short flight for a missile, not to mention a very convenient “base” for NATO.
NATO already has expanded to 30 countries, a fact of some concern to Russia and arguably a violation of previous non-expansionary agreements. Imagine China doing something similar to us and increasing our perception of vulnerability. What would our tolerance level be for that kind of perceived threat? We’re already getting very nervous about China.
Not defending Putin, just noting obvious geopolitical and historical realities that shape and influence strategic perspectives.
We have opposite views on the situation but even then, consider that Putin did put his nuclear forces on high alert about a month ago. That’s nothing to scoff at. Anything that increases the chances of error or miscalculation between nuclear armed powers is deeply concerning. (We’ve already had a couple of close calls in the past.) Again, we probably differ on this but Ukraine just isn’t worth risking that kind of catastrophic event IMO. Once the nukes start flying there’s no telling what horrors it might unleash.
Not just former USSR. Ukraine has been part of Russia for 200 years. For the 400 years before that, mostly Poland. Except for 3 years around 1919, they have not been a country since the 12th century. That’s reality.
You are correct.
Ukrainian view of current Russian invasion:
“Once again, Ukraine is losing its best sons and daughters. Once again, the insidious enemy from Muscovy is destroying the Ukrainian nation. Once again, it seeks to seize the Ukrainian land, mutilate the Ukrainian body, and destroy the Ukrainian soul. This happens again and again on our land. Again we did not call for this war, again it was brought to us and imposed on us: boldly, cruelly, with impudence and sadism, which only the descendants of the Muscovites are capable of. These descendants of monsters do not have a human soul, but only mimic the human body. Instead of light souls, their bodies are populated with demonic entities. They seek to destroy us, to destroy Ukraine, because this is the most important goal of their existence. Their goal is to sow chaos, anger and death, to feed on the suffering of millions of people, which is why they fanatically shout “We can Pavtarit”, and we said And Say - “Never again”.
And this time we must put an end to this absolute zlo, seal this absolute zlo with strong seals forever, so that our grandchildren and their descendants will never suffer from this zlo again. So that the slogan “Never again” becomes an axiom, not a theorem.
Therefore, no peace treaties should put us to sleep, no agreements should weaken our vigilance and should not stop the main goal - zlo should be dispersed, its citadel should be destroyed, its ziggurats-mausoleums should be destroyed and cleansed. All Lenin’s istukans must fall! And the Russian Federation itself (Russia), as a prison of peoples that disfigures souls, must be destroyed and should never be assembled again. Never Again.
And then we will know that Ukraine has ended this war now and forever, and then descendants will be able to live and develop in harmony and will be able to confidently say: “this will never happen again.”
I believe that we will win.
I believe that we will finish the job.
I believe that the descendants will be proud, and the ancestors on the other side of the border will be happy that their grandchildren did not let them down.”