NATO was inexorably pushing to have Ukraine join their club
Russia asked to join NATO at one point, that would have ruined the purpose of NATO, which is to fuck over Russia whoever is in charge
--which would represent an objective strategic nightmare for Russia--
there was an ongoing civil war in Donetsk and Luhansk involving pro-ukraine fascist militias, some of which were then made part of the Ukraine armed forces so they would have been instantly article 5'd
US did something to halt peaceful discussions
the Minsk agreements were meant to buy time for Ukraine to militarize further, as per Merkel, peace was never the goal
Russia did a pre-emptive attack on Ukraine aiming to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO by making it into a part of Russia.
yes, but also to protect the people who were under constant attacks in Donetsk and Luhansk and to disarm the Ukrainian armed forces
Russia asked to join NATO at one point, that would have ruined the purpose of NATO, which is to fuck over Russia whoever is in charge
there was an ongoing civil war in Donetsk and Luhansk involving pro-ukraine fascist militias, some of which were then made part of the Ukraine armed forces so they would have been instantly article 5'd
the Minsk agreements were meant to buy time for Ukraine to militarize further, as per Merkel, peace was never the goal
yes, but also to protect the people who were under constant attacks in Donetsk and Luhansk and to disarm the Ukrainian armed forces