Re: that is a big no-no in Putin's book.
Other countries and their leaders have "books" too. Perhaps some of them have written down in their books that they could do with some support to counterbalance Russian (re)expansionism? Maybe if Russia didn't seem to be becoming increasingly hostile, Ukraine might have just kicked the whole NATO thing into the long grass as a sort of "nice to have, but doesn't really seem to be all that necessary right now".
Instead, Putin's decisions have only served to demonstrate exactly why a neighbouring country might want to join NATO. Thus Putin's own actions are making his own fears come true ever faster. He is trying to win the wrong game with the wrong tactics, and as a consequence is damaging the very thing he says that he is trying to save: Russian national security.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
