georgephillip
Diamond Member
In the early 1990s the US and NATO embarked on a long-term project to make Ukraine a Western bulwark on Russia's border primarily through NATO expansion.
You and I may not believe that posed an existential threat to Russia, but Putin, and millions of other Russians, knew better.
After repeated attempts by Russia to resolve the matter through diplomacy failed, Putin was forced to act.
The Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine Crisis
"I (John Mearsheimer) will make two main arguments today.
"First, the United States is principally responsible for causing the Ukraine crisis.
"This is not to deny that Putin started the war and that he is responsible for Russia’s conduct of the war.
"Nor is it to deny that America’s allies bear some responsibility, but they largely follow Washington’s lead on Ukraine.
"My central claim is that the United States has pushed forward policies toward Ukraine that Putin and other Russian leaders see as an existential threat, a point they have made repeatedly for many years.
"Specifically, I am talking about America’s obsession with bringing Ukraine into NATO and making it a Western bulwark on Russia’s border.
"The Biden administration was unwilling to eliminate that threat through diplomacy and indeed in 2021 recommitted the United States to bringing Ukraine into NATO. Putin responded by invading Ukraine on February 24th of this year."
