spat
.700 Nitro Express
The point is that NATO admitting them stopped Putin from even considering an invasion.I never said they were forced to join. If Putin wanted more sea ports in the baltic, we'd be in the same position with or without NATO. If NATO had been moth balled, and that happened, the alliance could have been reinstated just like any other agreement or piece of equipment. What would or should we care about Putin wanting former Soviet satilite states anyway? If NATO had stayed how it was before baltic states joined, nothing would have changed if Putin expanded there. Putin would still stop at a NATO border.
If Ukraine had been admitted 5 years ago , the world would be a far better place today. It would even have been a better place for Russia, since they would have avoided this invasion that is destroying them.
Imagine if all of Europe was in NATO and Russia was forced to stop it's military adventurism. How many *Russian* lives would that save ?