The promise of NATO membership in 2008[0] and a coup "midwifed" by the US in 2014[1] is not provocative enough for you?
>Putin has stated multiple times his desire and intention to "restore" the russian empire
Where have you read that?
[0] https://www.nato.int/en/about-us/official-texts-and-resource...
> The promise of NATO membership in 2008
The irony