[Bruce Campbells Chin]

Putin himself wanted to join NATO to draw closer to the West economically. His own motives at the time confirmed that joining NATO does not mean you are being involved in aggressive military expansion.

Putin always knew, right down to the bottom of his soul, that NATO was never going to invade Russia. He and the rest of the world could see NATO's defense budgets consistently shrinking over time, and that the major European players in NATO had absolutely no appetite for military adventures. And apart from all that, Putin knew that Russia's nuclear arsenal was the final deterrent to anyone actually seeking to invade Russia itself.

Putin never feared NATO militarily. What he did fear was that Russia's neighbors could no longer be bullied or intimidated by Russia, and would be free to pursue their own economic and political interests. He believed Russia had the right to hegemony in Eastern Europe. And...it doesn't.

[Lurker]

“He believed Russia had the right to hegemony in Eastern Europe. And...it doesn’t”

Indeed they don’t.

L