>not by US invitation to join them, but rather by Russian neighbours seeking an alliance to finally rid themselves of the threat. How would one differentiate b

>not by US invitation to join them, but rather by Russian neighbours seeking an alliance to finally rid themselves of the threat. How would one differentiate between "Russian neighbours seeking an alliance" and "Russian neighbours seeking an alliance because they were promised something in return"? And even in this case: why would Russia care about the reasons? From russian point of view there was a promise: NATO won't grow any further east. The promise was broken. Had NATO refused adding new members to its ranks - there would be no problem.