[willmadden]

I'm not "pro-Russia", but here is how Russia was provoked into the Ukraine war:

- NATO’s 1999 expansion into Eastern Europe despite promises not to.

- The 2014 Maidan coup removing pro-Russian President Yanukovych.

- Ukraine’s 2021 bombardment of Donbas separatists.

- NATO’s 2022 plans to admit Ukraine despite promises not to.

- U.S. Biolabs in Ukraine.

None of this is mentioned as context for this new prediction in the article. This is critical context for any objective article about Russia's war plans. Conclusion: this article is not objective.

[Arnt]

There's much to say about several of those, but let's focus on one. The first, perhaps. Could you perhaps elaborate? What were these promises, by whom, was it a treaty, did any country promise to veto an application if e.g. Poland were to apply for membership? Do you have a link, any sort of reference?

[willmadden]

During the 1990 German reunification talks, Western leaders verbally assured Gorbachev that NATO would not expand eastward beyond Germany. This is from declassified documents. Despite these promises, NATO admitted Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in 1999. In 2004 they let in the Baltic. All of this culminated in Putin's 2022 Ukraine invasion to block the Ukraine from joining NATO.

Sources: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2017...

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/16116-document-05-memoran...

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/16117-document-06-record-...