The reason why Russia invaded Ukraine wasn't because of NATO but to maintain their sphere of influence, and apparently reclaim the Russian empire.[1] Indeed, it

The reason why Russia invaded Ukraine wasn't because of NATO but to maintain their sphere of influence, and apparently reclaim the Russian empire.[1] Indeed, it is Russia's greatest strategic mistake if they wish to push against the expansion of NATO. Sweden and Finland joined, and the Eastern Europeans are particularly vocal in their support of Ukraine and why they joined NATO in the first place. Moreover, it wouldn't be in our interest to let another state invade another state for the express purpose of annexation and regime change. Our answer at minimum, must be the sanction of said state. If necessary, we will strangle their growth until they become like North Korea. Otherwise, our toleration will leads to further wars down the line and would be contrary to our democratic values and to the rule based international order. I wouldn't also be too worried about WW3. It is unlikely that France would be involved, but it is clear that nukes is something that states are weary of, with good reason. I would call that nuclear blackmail which hobbled supporting Ukraine. Recall the difficulty of getting Germany to send tanks or the controversy on the use of missiles like Storm Shadows. Now the British allowed the Ukrainian to use those missiles in attack on Russian territory. This is known as the escalation ladder and Russia seems to have a weaker hand since they backed down every time. 1. https://afsa.org/did-nato-expansion-really-cause-putins-invasion https://afsa.org/did-nato-expansion-really-cause-putins-inva...