"Talk peace, make war" is not a strategy Putin invented, and to confirm this all you need is a cursory reading of the history of Hitler's foreign policy, appeas

"Talk peace, make war" is not a strategy Putin invented, and to confirm this all you need is a cursory reading of the history of Hitler's foreign policy, appeasement, etc. Of course NATO membership is, at first, "all Putin wanted" - after achieving that he can defer conquest of Ukraine until a time of his choosing, time is on his side to reform his army and try again. In fact, NATO membership is an existential necessity for Ukraine, the only possible way it can have a peaceful and stable life alongside a huge irredentist/fascist state next door. Nothing is possible without meaningful security and deterrence. All that feigned "paranoia about NATO" talk is trivially invalidated by the fact that Finland joined NATO, it was obvious that Finland would join NATO no matter the outcome of the Ukraine invasion, and it's obvious that Putin understood this. The only threat NATO poses is to Russia's ability to re-colonize its neighbours.