"to give Russia excuses for its unilateral decision to invade Ukraine,"
I am not excusing Putin or supporting the invasion. It is a disastrous and reactionary miscalculation on Putin's part . I am offering a different explanation for the underlying causes of the war, not justifying it.
"If Russia's beef was with "provocation" by the US and NATO...why then didn't Russia attack them"
Good question. Because Russia doesn't want to start WW3 maybe ? Because Russia has no desire or plan or intent to invade all of Europe maybe ? And just wants a non-NATO Ukraine ?
Do you have any comment on the below, which shows that the US President himself and US think tanks and strategists knew perfectly well what the outcome of NATO expansion would be ? Why do you think US/NATO continued with expansion over the past 30 years which they knew full well would lead to conflict with Russia ?
From 1996 -
Problems with Current U.S. Policy
NATO expansion needlessly provokes Russia.
Expansion promotes divisions in an already divided region.
Russia simply cannot countenance the absorption of Ukraine into a Western security alliance. Ukraine itself suspects that it will be allowed to slip into the Russian sphere of influence in exchange for Russia’s approval of Visegrad Four membership in NATO.
Economically, NATO has only been a burden to its member states. It has never promoted democracy (for example, looking the other way at Turkey’s democratic flaws). Finally, NATO was conceived as–and continues to be–a military alliance designed to counter military threats. https://ips-dc.org/the_costs_and_dangers_of_nato_expansion/
Video of Joe Biden Warning of Russian Hostility if NATO Expands Resurfaces
