ukraine was literally no threat to russia. no 'western' or european nation is a threat to russia if russia would just gtfo and quit invading its neighbors.
50 prominent foreign policy experts (former senators, military officers, diplomats, etc.) sent an open letter to Clinton outlining their opposition to NATO expansion back in 1997:
George Kennan, arguably America's greatest ever foreign policy strategist, the architect of the U.S. cold war strategy warned that NATO expansion was a "tragic mistake" that ought to ultimately provoke a "bad reaction from Russia" back in 1998.
Jack F. Matlock Jr., US Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1987-1991, warning in 1997 that NATO expansion was "the most profound strategic blunder, [encouraging] a chain of events that could produce the most serious security threat [...] since the Soviet Union collapsed"
ukraine is not a threat to anyone, but the united states is and ukraine let the united states fool it into thinking they could join the american side despite geopolitical hazards like russia and trump or warning signs from history like latin american; the middle east; or europe after ww2.
We encourage you to explore this report and its accompanying research brief. However, because Russian entities and individuals sympathetic to Putin's decision to invade Ukraine have mischaracterized this research in recent weeks, we also encourage you to explore this helpful resource on Russia's “firehose of falsehood” approach to propaganda and our research on “Truth Decay,” which is a phenomenon that is driven in part by the spread of disinformation.
Ah yes, imagine being gullible enough to fall for the disclaimer that people have "mischaracterized" their research that just happened to describe the exact scenario and benefits for the US. 🤣