Don’t compare the defenders to the aggressor. Russia is not here to protect anything or anyone, for all of modern times it has tried to destabilize our part of the world and support the kind of people that are the partners of Russia and I think you know who they are and what they are, which is why Cuba of course.
As far as training goes, you train where you might have to fight, military exercises are best when they are training where the fight might be, such as the Baltics or Finland, Trump had us training in Ukraine, you train to coordinate with and learn how to work with the ally and his people, his terrain, his military, his equipment, his situation in regard to the Russian threat, the purpose of the exercise is to make it local, to practice moving everything there and dealing with whatever challenges that involves, the troops need to see the country, meet the people, see the bridges and harbors and air strips, learn about the water and the fields, trees and mud, the buildings, cities, and towns.
And there is no “almost Russia”, like I said, Europe is there and can’t avoid having borders with Russia or being close to them, if they could they would obviously prefer that Russia not be such a hellish threat all the time and move to someplace else.
—> Don’t compare the defenders to the aggressor
I disagree with you characterizations.
Best.