milfchaser said: Ukraine was invaded for several reasons, some dating back to WW2. The West has forgotten WW2, the Russians never have. Every family in Russia proper probably knows of at least one grandparent, or older family members, that died in WW2 thanks to invasion from the West.
The Bush 1 Administration promised the Russians in 1991 that if they would allow Germany to unite (something that the Soviets were dead set against as far back as the Teheran conference during WW2, when Germany's post-war future was decided) that NATO would not move one inch further east from the eastern border of the united Germany. This promise was never made in writing, but has been verified by Der Spiegel and other news media. And remember, oral promises on the strategic level can be binding. The access to West Berlin durng the postwar years was based on oral promises made by Stalin in 1944.
Meanwhile, President Clinton, and every administration after him (until Trump) broke the promise made to Russia about moving NATO east. They could have worked out a separate security agreement for the former Warsaw pact nations, but instead opted to bring them into NATO, basically giving nuclear armed Russia the finger and taking NATO right to the Russian border.
Then the West, led by the Obama Administration, interfered in Ukrainian elections at a time when ethnic Russians in the Donbass and nearby regions were being discriminated against, and this interference in Ukrainian elections was intended to bring Ukraine into the Western fold, with EU and/or NATO membership being a distinct possibility. Russia, understandably, saw this as a strategic threat.
Remember, they lost 20 Million people, mostly civilians, in WW2. Millions of Russian POW's were starved to death. The Russian people have never forgot this. They have long memories. Most people in the West can't remember anything further back than yesterday's TikTok posting and their understanding of history is lower than the historical understanding held by a box of rocks. It's just fact. People aren't taught history.
NATO is necessary. I think the Russian invasion shows its purpose. That said, the Ukraine invasion may not have happened if the US and other Western governments had not decided to interfere in Ukraine in the 2010's, and suggest it join NATO. As per usual, there are better ways to deal with issues than interfere with elections, make empty threats, provoke a nuclear armed adversary unnecessarily, and make geopolitical moves that are completely devoid of historical knowledge.
Wow! A very good summary of why Russia and Ukraine are at war. It nice to know someone else gets their information from other sources besides the MSM.
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