If VP Biden and Nuland and Co. had been willing to let Ukraine stay neutral, and not be pushing for it to join NATO, it is very possible none of this would be happening.
No. Simply no. Moscow has always viewed Ukraine is it's "property", even going back to the times of the Tsars. The book Children of Rus' would teach you this if you'd take time to read it. In fact Moscow believes that all of the nations the Tsars had subjugated are its' "property". That none of them should be independent of Moscow's direct control. Which is why they begged to be admitted to NATO when by a stroke of luck they were freed by the collapse of the USSR. Even countries like Sweden and Finland now realize that collective defense is their only refuge from Moscow's hunger for power.
At least read this precis of Aleksandr Dugin's opus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics
You are forgetting that most of the Ukrainian people did not wish to be ruled by a Russian sock puppet. Nuland etc. were minor factors at most.
Of note, one of my friends argues that individuals, political parties, etc., are irrelevant in altering the currents of history. I don’t quite agree. Truly exceptional individuals can IMO alter the greater movements of history. OTOH truly incompetent leaders are usually just a product of their culture or society. In any case, Nuland is about the most unexceptional person one could imagine. A 3rd rate bureaucratic hack.
Stop deluding yourself. THIS IS NOT ABOUT NATO! It is about Putin wanting to restore the old imperial Russian borders. For years he has been openly declaring that Ukraine is not a real country, that it is really a part of Russia. In Putin's mind Ukraine is an invention of anti-Russian western powers and it is his intention to correct "Lenin's mistake" and return Ukraine to Russian control. All of his other excuses are just that: excuses.