[bainsfather]

Consider a different case ...

One can make a good case that Britain's guarantee to Poland in 1939 was done badly. Britain failed to convince Hitler that she was serious, and that invasion of Poland would lead to war.

We can agree that the 'blame' falls on Hitler. But one can also reflect on whether Britain's actions could have been better thought out, and maybe learn some lessons for the future.

In the case of Putin's Russia, NATO is dealing with a major nuclear power. Saying that Putin is at fault is fine. I very much dislike Putin. But we have to co-exist with Russia whether we like it or not. I am interested in reading some 'realpolitik' on this topic. In particular, I'd like to understand Putin's and Russia's motives, fears, ambitions, etc.

[Arnt]

https://nitter.nl/kamilkazani/status/1498377757536968711 is probably what you want. And the super-TLDR is that Putin is worried either that soldiers based in eastern Ukraine could invade Russia, dash across the Caucasus to the Caspian Sea and cut Russia off from important blah blah blah, or that Russians could see that Ukrainians are like themselves but have a better state and a better life, and grow restless with the Russian state or both.