> There's no real doubt that possible Ukrainian NATO membership (and short of that, its ever closer de facto integration with NATO) were primary motivating fact

> There's no real doubt that possible Ukrainian NATO membership (and short of that, its ever closer de facto integration with NATO) were primary motivating factors for the Russian decision to invade. Interesting if this is the case that NATO makes no appearance in the now deleted Russian victory article. You can read the article for yourself here https://web.archive.org/web/20220226051154/https://ria.ru/20220226/rossiya-1775162336.html https://web.archive.org/web/20220226051154/https://ria.ru/20.... Instead of talking about NATO it talks about Russia answering the "Ukraine question" and finally reuniting all "Russian" people together. The article reads a lot more like a country conquering another then someone celebrating victory over defeating a country joining a military alliance.