[friedturkey]

I don't think Ukraine was even being seriously considered for NATO until Russia decided to surround the country with its military recently.

It's like punching someone, some guy passing by tells you to stop, then you justify your reason for punching that person because you were worried that the person who told you to stop was going to attack you.

Nobody was going to do anything to say anything to you if you hadn't gone out of your way to attack someone.

[dragonwriter]

> I don't think Ukraine was even being seriously considered for NATO until Russia decided to surround the country with its military recently.

NATO, in a statement from the NATO Summit, explicitly indicated last June (so, before the late 2021 encirclement) the intention that Ukraine would join the alliance through the Membership Action Plan.

This reiterated a 2008 policy statement that had effectively been shelved by the Yanukovych governments anti-NATO position, but never formally restated after a more NATO-friendly government had emerged in Ukraine and sought to advance towards membership.

[friedturkey]

Do you think Russia's funding of terrorist groups in the eastern portions of Ukraine known for atrocities against civilians could've influenced that decision?

Or maybe going back farther Russia's sudden seizure of Crimea with a fraudulent vote with 97% in support could've been what made Ukraine nervous that they'd be invaded and seek support from other countries?

Or maybe going back a little farther to the USSR's atrocities against Ukraine, including Holodomor--the outright genocide of the Ukrainian people--might've been the thing that makes Ukraine want to ally with literally any country but Russia?

The idea that Ukraine should want to associate with Russia is the most bizarre political claim there ever was. Their history is nothing but being ravaged and literally raped by Russia, so them considering joining NATO is nothing but a big "no shit". Putin deserves to be surrounded for his actions. All he's done is shown that the Russia's intentions to destroy the Ukrainian people haven't changed in 100 years.

[mercy_dude]

> I don't think Ukraine was even being seriously considered for NATO until Russia decided to surround the country with its military recently.

West backed Ukraine leadership applied for NATO membership as early as 2008.

http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-287949.html

[DeathArrow]

And Putin came personally to 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest to tell that Russia won't tolerate this.