that last is not true at all and has been throughly debunked by...

that last is not true at all and has been throughly debunked by russian leaders of the time

NATO is confrontational to russia in one respect ......russia must stay within her borders and not steal land from others - days of empire are long gone...no more hitler like expansions !
Not a bigf ask ....only fair isn't it !

As far as Norway and Sweden are concerned :
1. before the invasion were quite neutra and with a good relationship with russia
2.. saw the threat , and reacted to it seeking NATO security
3. their perfect right to do so
4. FA putin , despite his threats , can do about it
5. but the threats show it does piss him off - a very negative outcome amongst many for russia due entirely to this misconceived war

an outcome exActly opposite to what he hoped to acheive - one in the eye for NATO !
SO ....now we have the Suwalki gap losing it's strategic value to russia and the Baltic becoming a NATO lake ......you couldn't find two more strategicaly significant countries to join NATO