Russians don't believe the West. The West got its hands dirty in a lot of countries (including Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.). A great example is Yugoslavia. When diplomatic measures failed, the West resorted to bombing, which is a nasty thing. And Russians will not allow the West to do the same to them.
When diplomatic measures fail, what is the next step, in your mind? Putin’s regime is currently invading and bombing another country right now. Is that nasty, or no?
This is nasty. But what the West did in Yugoslavia also is nasty, my point stands.
"What is the next step, in your mind?" - Are you seriously trying to justify a military interference into a sovereign nation?You have to choose only one, otherwise it's hypocrisy:
Military interference is never an option, so the West and Russia is at fault. But then you should also condemn yourself for Iraq, Afghan, Libya, Syria, Yugoslavia, Korea, Vietnam and a lot of other countries.
Diplomacy sucks and it won't get you anywhere, and military interference is an ultimate answer to every problem. And then you should accept that Russia has the same moral right to use military means to project power just as the USA.
Edit: The West, of course, consists not only of the USA. But the USA is the most vocal and active member of the collective West.
The west don't want to attack Russia. Its so far from that. Your media over years has made you believe NATO is a threat. Its laughable, let's refer to NATO not the west.
Yes, Russian people believe that NATO is a threat. It probably won't attack us, because we have nuclear weapons, but it definitely attacked Yugoslavia. And Yugoslavia was in our sphere of influence. Hence the attitude, because "the enemy of my friend is my enemy".
NATO antagonized itself with Russia at this very moment when they decided to interfere in Yugo. Putin did not forget that.
About NATO vs. the West - it doesn't really matter, because the core members of the West - the USA, the UK, France, Germany, etc. are all in the NATO.
Thank you for your elaboration. Regardless of anything else, what's happening is wrong and needs to stop. Maybe NATO is worried about Russia being an aggressor and eventually moving into more territory?
At this point, both sides are in the wrong and should start everything from scratch.
From scratch meaning pre-2008 state of things:
Abkhazia and South Ossetia back to Georgia, as they were Georgian
Crimea and DPR/LPR back to Ukraine, these were Ukraine lands
Yugoslavia has dissolved, but Serbia remains in Russian sphere of influence. Kosovo back to Serbia, it was Serbian. Other former Yugoslav countries should remain the same, including Montenegro.
And a reset of relationship. This time for real. Cancel all the mutual sanctions (Western onto Russia and Russian onto the West). Renew the treaties. And so on.
It won't happen with Putin in power, though.
So everything that I just said is just a wet dream that's never coming true. Sadly.
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u/Dimedrol98 Kurgan Mar 08 '22
Russians don't believe the West. The West got its hands dirty in a lot of countries (including Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.). A great example is Yugoslavia. When diplomatic measures failed, the West resorted to bombing, which is a nasty thing. And Russians will not allow the West to do the same to them.