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This is a persistent myth, there was never an agreement to not expand NATO with the USSR, and the one person who would know at the time Mikhail Gorbachev has said as much.
> At multiple points during this war, the Russians have offered to negotiate. Instead, the US has responded with "to the last Ukrainian".
The Ukrainians where negotiating regarding the war then the Russians where pushed out of a number of cities that they held and we saw the horrific scene they left behind.
That is likely the point that the Ukrainian's decided that there would be no negotiating.
> Today, Russia is essentially also arguing for pre-emptive war but the reasoning - putting American missiles and forces in Ukraine - is a hell of a lot plausible.
Yet theres no war against Finland is there, and there will be US soldiers in Finland far before they are ever in Ukraine.
> The fact that there has been not one effort to negotiate by the Americans shows that the West isn't interested in peace or the interests of Ukrainians - they simply want a country naive and suicidal enough to throw themselves against the Russian subhumans.
There has been an effort to negotiate by the Americans, which ironically angered a large number of people as it happened behind the backs of Ukraine by using back channels.
The Russian government invaded Ukraine because they consider it a fake nation that was illegitimately carved out of Russia. The "neo-Nazi NATO" excuses were just lies they made up for naive Westerners.
I mean, yeah, probably many of them believe it now.
Personally, I lean towards this - after 20 years in power Putin is a defacto dictator perched on top of a government machine he constructed to keep him there. A machine composed of various pieces of corruption, propaganda, repressions, and bribes.
And like many dictatorships before - having to pressure relief valve of changing people in power, he has to deflect discontent elsewhere, external enemies, NATO, etc, and ply his population with achievements they can soothe themselves with while submerged in poverty and corruption. And justifications are made up as needed by the machine of the state.