Let's assume for a moment that this is true. In 2014, when Russia first invaded Ukraine, European militaries were in the process of unilateral disarmament. Mili

Let's assume for a moment that this is true. In 2014, when Russia first invaded Ukraine, European militaries were in the process of unilateral disarmament. Military units were being disbanded, bases were being shut down, equipment like Leopard tanks was being sold to places as far away as Chile. The US removed its last permanent heavy equipment from Europe in 2013. The few countries that still had conscription were debating a move to much smaller professional armies. If a leader in Moscow had truly feared an invasion from the West, why would they have needed to do anything other than sit and wait for the disarmament trend to continue? Perhaps it was the other way around: the leader in Moscow saw all that and believed that no one would have the resources to stop him?