@HP, But it is well documented and discussed that Ukraine had signifcant hurdles to overcome bfore being accepted into NATO, and the west was not at all rushing to add it. And neither we nor the EU were going to “annex” Ukraine; we were only going to supprot their right to self determinaion.
Putin;s economy was not creaking before a February; there were agreements in place that were generating a lot of cash to support Russia.
Putin has fallen into the “dictator trap” where he has stifled dissent so long tha he cannot get decent intelligence to help his decision making. That is not the West’s fault; that is all on him. The siutaion was not ours to control.
You sound like you were a Trumpist refusing to support Ukraine at all, the people that refused to supply Ukraine with weapons three years ago.
Don’t be a Putin apologist. Poor little autocrat who can’t beat up the smaller country next door. I hope the plutocrats oust him before Easter.