But you have to see, then, that the US wasn’t interested in deescalation. Peaceful options abounded, they won the cold war, their defeated enemy was literally asking to be admitted into an alliance and move forward as collaborators and they didn’t take the offer.
They said they would stop expanding NATO towards Russia and then did so anyway.
There’s only one realistic interpretation of that approach if you are Russia. You’d need to respond because the enemy you just lost to is making it obvious they aren’t finished with you yet.
So then we’re back full circle, where I say it’s obviously not a moral question because these are states making calculations about their interests, and that history didn’t start in 2022 and that deescalation was an option before this happened. Escalating was a policy decision that the US made. That’s not Russian apologia, that’s the history and context we went over in a good faith dialogue with each other. Ukraine is suffering because of US policy decisions. This doesn’t justify an invasion, it doesn’t make Putin a good guy, but the conflict was avoidable and the US decided to risk it.
If you recall, this entire chain is challenging the idea that the war is because of ‘Russian aggression.’ Would it be fair to say we have demonstrated that it’s more nuanced than that?
But you have to see, then, that the US wasn’t interested in deescalation. Peaceful options abounded, they won the cold war, their defeated enemy was literally asking to be admitted into an alliance and move forward as collaborators and they didn’t take the offer.
They said they would stop expanding NATO towards Russia and then did so anyway.
There’s only one realistic interpretation of that approach if you are Russia. You’d need to respond because the enemy you just lost to is making it obvious they aren’t finished with you yet.
So then we’re back full circle, where I say it’s obviously not a moral question because these are states making calculations about their interests, and that history didn’t start in 2022 and that deescalation was an option before this happened. Escalating was a policy decision that the US made. That’s not Russian apologia, that’s the history and context we went over in a good faith dialogue with each other. Ukraine is suffering because of US policy decisions. This doesn’t justify an invasion, it doesn’t make Putin a good guy, but the conflict was avoidable and the US decided to risk it.
If you recall, this entire chain is challenging the idea that the war is because of ‘Russian aggression.’ Would it be fair to say we have demonstrated that it’s more nuanced than that?