> Russia doesn't have any intention of doing that.
That's a strange thing to say while Russia is in the middle of of gobbling up Ukraine (a country west of it within the extent of the USSR)
That's a strange thing to say while Russia is in the middle of of gobbling up Ukraine (a country west of it within the extent of the USSR)
Russia doesn't have any intention of doing that. Putin is currently 71 and we've seen no particular interest in grand campaigns to reconstitute the USSR so far in his lifetime, it isn't going to start. It turns out they weren't even militarily prepared to take Ukraine! They thought they could just launch a quick decapitation strike and be done. The USSR leadership disbanded the USSR in the 90s, so if they've culturally reversed position on that completely in 30 years it shows a stunning failure of western diplomacy to support them in doing the right thing.
> No European neighbors of Russia subscribe to that anymore.
Things like this is why letting them in to NATO would worry Russia. They are paranoid and panicking. I can understand why; I would be if I were a small country with a Russian border or close to one. But, nevertheless, their attitudes are one risk factor for escalating the situation from bad to catastrophic.