I mean if the people in eastern Ukraine or Crimea WANTED to join Russia, there's democratic and peaceful ways to go about it. If Russia wanted access to the Black Sea, there's peaceful ways to go about it, like trade and freedom of commerce agreements like Europe has.
You remember Zelensky was elected on the narrative he'd bring peace. For that there was Minsk which was not good and giving in to force, but well, implementing it would have been a hell of a lot better than what's happening now. Yet, he wasn't able to achieve that? Maybe Ukraine isn't the center of democracy the State Department made it into the past 2 months.
This is just straight up victim blaming.
A hostile Ukraine, or a conquered Ukraine, only bring more enemies on Russia's borders.
> nato,
> missiles on the border
What missiles? There's already Poland, Baltics, Turkey, Romania that can be used for missile bases.
> warm water access
That's the bullshitiest one of the bullshit list - first, Russia already controls Sevastopol, and before the occupation of Crimea, it had a joint lease on it. And of course, it has hundreds of kilometres of Black Sea coastline to the east of Crimea, including the sizable port and naval base of Novorosiisk.
Russia is providing enough fake excuses ( Ukraine isn't a real nation, Nazis) as it is, no need to add even faker ones for them.
Sure what you say may have played the role also. But Putin wants "glory days" of SU back. That's why he continuously tried to expand Russia (and Russian influence) since he came into power.
It's about him being a power broker on international scale and not another has been dictator of 3rd world country.
Nato was just used as an excuse. Because of the submarines and ballistic missiles, It doesn't matters where weapons are.
And nothing excuses them for what we are seeing what is happening on the ground.
This is about encirclement, nato, missiles on the border, warm water access
No value judgment in the right or wrong of it