@iju @gsymon @ErikvanStraten @Free_Press
Just as an addendum: Ukraine in NATO became esp. threatening for Russia since the USA (during Trumps first presidency) withdrew from the INF Treaty (regulating Intermediate Range Nuclear Missiles).
But i wouldn't call the general NATO eastwards expansion a straw man, It has been predicted to cause a War against Russia in Europe by a plethora of geostrategic analysts, even George Kennan himself was highly critical of it for that reason.