that's the point of giving Ukraine the means to defend itself.
No American boots on the ground
This is just like the German conquest of the Sudentenland in 1938 -- if France and the UK had pushed in or given Czechia a means to defend itself like Ukraine is defending itself, then WWII would not be the catacylsm it was. The Prussian generals were waiting for Hitler to slip up and they would pounce
By Ukraine stopping or even stalling Putin's ambitions they have effectively prevented an escalation of war
If Putin had gotten his way in Feb 2022, then Ukraine would be a vassal state and next Putin would incorporate all of Belarus and most of Ukraine by today. Then he would have targeted the baltics and THEN the USA would be involved
But now, no - Putin has destroyed much of russia's ability to make war and depleted his country's prestige
Supplying or taking non-military action for an opposing army is one of the most common ways of getting dragged into a war — support for Cuban rebels leading to the Spanish/American War, arms to the Allies prior to the Lusitania, cutting off oil to Japan in WWII, military “advisors” leading to Vietnam.
At some point, the enemy understands that they are in a proxy war and decides to cut out the middleman — leading to direct conflict.
There’s a lot of misery in the world.
It’s not our job to fix it all with our blood and treasure…