"Another example is Belarus. My understanding is for years the played Europe against Russia, but their autocratic government retained some independence as a res

"Another example is Belarus. My understanding is for years the played Europe against Russia, but their autocratic government retained some independence as a result. Then the West slapped sanctions on them, which pushed them into the suffocating arms of Putin, and it became a staging area and accomplice to Putin's invasion of Ukraine." Contrast that with Finland and Sweden seriously considering joining NATO, NATO putting more weapons and soldiers in to the Baltic and Eastern European states, Germany and other NATO states increasing military spending, and moving much faster towards energy independence. These consequences are evidence of a major miscalculation on Putin's part, who certainly would never want to see any of that happen. Not to mention the world edging ever closer to WW3, in which everyone would be the loser.