Almost 20 years after the invasion of Iraq and we're right back where we were then, but worse because now fucking NATO has decided they'd rather get into a nuclear pissing match with Putin than take one fucking L. Meanwhile stateside it's suddenly back in vogue to attack LGB and especially T rights, liberals and chuds have put aside their differences to play in the war drum circle together, the anti-anti-imperialist "left" is taking its victory laps online, the pandemic that still is killing and will continue to kill thousands every day is suddenly yesterday's news, and all we have to show for two decades of protests and agitation and organizing is a handful of better contracts for chuddy trade unions and a couple unionized Starbucks.
TL;DR: All hail the cockroaches who will inherit the fallout-choked Earth, I've no doubt they'll do a better job running the place than we did.
There's no "pissing match" here, no tit-for-tat, no NATO retaliation of any kind. NATO will just continue to do what it has done since it's founding and Russia will continue to decline in power and relevance like it has since the height of the Soviet Union. Nukes will mean that Russia will always have some relevancy, but just look at Pakistan to see what the floor of relevance is for a nuclear power (and Pakistan has a larger population that's actually growing and and economy with the potential to grow as well).
Aight. I'm done :wall-talk:
You're putting a lot of faith in a declining empire and a cornered but expansionist, right-wing revanchist national power to not have death drives.
Well, I think that Russia will take a place as a secondary power aligned with China in the New World Order™, it's not like Russia is going to collapse from within or be invaded by it's neighbors, just a slow decline as their population wanes, their military ages, and oil and gas are less and less profitable. Spain and Portugal fell from great heights too without much trouble.