“8,500 American troops were put on heightened alert.”
That constitutes a redeployment, much less an encirclement?
(Bear in mind that this took place after 200,000 Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s northern border.)
We agreed to the neutrality of Ukraine in exchange for its independence. A single soldier in violation is in violation and nullifies the agreement. We’ve been encircling that area of the world with our military assets well before this. Would you accept Russia or China piling their military assets just off the cost in the international waters?
We were the wrongful party first and Russia reacted to our acts of unfaithfulness.