No, but Ukraine has shown interest in joining NATO, and NATO nations have been friendly with Ukraine.
I'm not defending Putin. What he has done is terrible. Just trying to figure Putin out...
With the attack on Ukraine, Putin seems to be sending a message and testing the waters:
He's showing Ukraine: "You want to join NATO? Watch how your western friends fear Russia and will not help you defend Ukraine against Russia."
He's sending a message to NATO: "Think twice before inviting Ukraine to join NATO. Do you really want to go to war against Russia?"
He's also testing the waters: He sees a weak U.S. president and watched a botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. How much can he get away with doing?
Putin first invaded Ukraine in 2014 when Ukraine wasn’t pursuing NATO membership and it wasn’t even popular. The polls from 2012 showed only ~20% of Ukrainians supported joining NATO.
Of course the popularity went up AFTER Russia invaded them.
Ukrainians used to be very naive. Years of Soviet brainwashing had accomplished that they were worried about the US invading them not Russia.
“With the attack on Ukraine, Putin seems to be sending a message and testing the waters: He’s showing Ukraine: ‘You want to join NATO? Watch how your western friends fear Russia and will not help you defend Ukraine against Russia.’
He’s sending a message to NATO: ‘Think twice before inviting Ukraine to join NATO. Do you really want to go to war against Russia?’”
Then why didn’t Putin attack Latvia, or Estonia (both of which border Russia)? Or Lithuania? Or former Soviet satellite states Romania, or Bulgaria, or Slovenia, or Slovakia? None of them joined NATO until 2004. Putin was president from 2000 - 2008; and 2012 - the present. Between 2008 and 2012 he was Premier (really, he was acting president, as Medvedev was his placeholder).
I think your last comment is most likely the real reason: He’s testing the waters; he sees a weak U.S. president and watched a botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. How much can he get away with doing?