The distance from the borders?
Latvia and Finland are far closer to Muscowy’s CORE than Ukraine is.
Latvia has been a NATO country since 2004 and no threat to Muscowy.
Russia does not “face belligerence” - it created that belligerence by invading its neighbors starting in 2008.
By your definition, Germany was facing belligerence from the UK and France in 1939....
if you support Putin in 2024, it’s the same as supporting pencil-brush moustache in 1939
Of course not, they are a small country. But on the obverse, Russia hasn't invaded them either, have they. But again, it was in 2008 when Putin stated that trying to make Ukraine or Georgia NATO nation states would be a red line for Russian national security.
Russia does not “face belligerence” - it created that belligerence by invading its neighbors starting in 2008.
Of course it did with the increasing push to expand NATO.
People want to claim that NATO is strictly a defensive entity.
Here are three events that belie that claim:
Operation Deliberate Force (1995): This air campaign targeted the Army of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose presence posed a danger to United Nations Safe Areas. The operation helped bring about the Dayton Accords.
Operation Allied Force (1999): NATO carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from March 24 to June 10, 1999, and aimed to force the withdrawal of the Yugoslav Army from Kosovo.
Operation Unified Protector (2011): This operation was a no-fly zone and air campaign in Libya, aimed at protecting civilians and enforcing a UN resolution. It was part of the international response to the Libyan Civil War.
What is the point of making either Ukraine or Georgia NATO nation states if you know that it will create friction with Russia?
Answer that question that I keep posing and you keep avoiding.