Nope, far from sleazy.
You, jn post 46 wrote “So official US policy is to undermine and attack vital Russian national interests”
My followup question to you is logical: “Russian national interest to threaten and invade its neighbours?”
Do you think that?
From Russia’s point of view, they were asked by those in the Donbas region to help stop Ukrainian armed forces from daily assaults on them.
In Russia’s eyes, they want to take away Ukraine’s ability to assault its own people.