I appreciate you coming with fair enough opinions without personal attacks.
If Ukraine joined NATO, it might not have prevented this attack, and that’s the huge issue. Putin has indicated that it would not have stopped the invasion, which you seem to be educated enough to understand that would probably start WW3.
It would have worked for Ukraine, and it’s part of why I believe Putin pulled the trigger on this before Ukraine was in NATO.
I can believe that because I think Putin doesn’t necessarily want to start WW3. But he has indicated that it wouldn’t have stopped him as well.
I personally don’t believe it’s worth to risk WW3 over the conflict of Ukraine and Russia. The history and issues of Ukraine and Russia are long, complicated, and frankly, IMO, hardly any business of ours.
I’m educated enough to know you’re either deep in a hole of disinformation / misinformation or on Russia’s side. We learned that appeasement doesn’t work with Nazi Germany and other examples, Russia being the latest.
If you know of the history and issues of Russia and Ukraine then you’d know they’re intrinsically linked to the USA and “Western” interests going pretty far back. Plus lots of trade flows through Ukraine and they export a ton of food - it’s important to lots of innocent people who are also impacted by the war even if it’s not by blood loss. The costs in lives is too high but also the costs in material, in trust, in future cooperation between nations has been eroded by Putin’s actions.
I can believe that because I think Putin doesn’t necessarily want to start WW3. But he has indicated that it wouldn’t have stopped him as well
You can’t have it both ways. It’s either he would or would not have. I think recent history has shown the exact opposite of what you claim Putin indicated. Nobody has invaded a NATO country because it works. That’s why the reaction from Finland and Sweden to this Russian invasion was to join NATO after so many years of not being a part of it even bordering the USSR. They know Putin won’t dare attack a member of that alliance. Clearly neutrality did not work when it came to Ukraine. Nor did appeasement, we’re paying for not being tougher in 2016 but the time between then and 2022 was spent strengthening Ukraine’s military precisely to stop the next occurrence of a Russian attack.
