The only motive is Putin's vanity and greed. He's a revanchist, pining for the days of the USSR. He hates democracy because he's scared of it. He was in Dresden

The only motive is Putin's vanity and greed. He's a revanchist, pining for the days of the USSR. He hates democracy because he's scared of it. He was in Dresden as a KGB officer when East Germany imploded, and attached himself to the idea of enriching himself at the expense of the Russian people, while being one of The Great Tsars of Russia. It has jack shit to do with feeling nervous about NATO. His own actions now prove that NATO expansion was exactly the right thing to do. Hindsight being 20/20 he is completely untrustworthy in all things, it was only wishful thinking and a dose of greed that the West coddled Putin as long as it has. And point in fact, probably would coddle him yet again if he pulled out of Ukraine before flattening it.