Most of the baltic states and former soviet republics are part of NATO now. Rather than asking whether there was a tacit agreement on spheres of influence at the time the Berlin wall fell, it might be worth asking why those countries so unanimously prefer closer ties to the EU and NATO over Russia. I think that money is part of the answer, but not in the way that you're implying.

Russia invades with troops, US invades with metaphors.

Actually, the exact point of the article would be that Russia, under Putin's wily leadership, has gotten much better about invading using non-physical force, or at least highly obscured physical force. We are instead the fools making the exact mistakes of a Russia from the 80's.

Its interesting to watch occur, as Putin is currently so much better at the game than we are. You talk about it like we're interacting with the slow bear, when in truth we're now facing a strong, beloved dictator, who has largely consolidated dissent on his homefront with a clear message of nationalism / longing for the USSR, who is adept at manipulating geopolitics, and who excels at "showing" people the right choice, rather than telling them.