I could sense what was coming. "I hate Putin, but..." in the end you made it all about Putin's own propaganda, amplfying this "Ukrainian Nazism" and "NATO is an aggressor" talking points. You speak of the poor quality of the discourse, yet you reiterate what is arguably the worst arguments.

Also, you're appraisal of NATO and the USSR's bid to join is extremely slanted. NATO was formed specifically as a defensive pact to prevent further Soviet Expansion, in direct response to the Berlin Blockade and the Iran Crisis.

The Soviet application in 1954 was nothing more than a tactic orchestrated by Beria and Molotov - two Stalin loyalists who were responsible for the deaths of millions of Russians, Ukrainians, and other ethnic minorities in the USSR.

They knew the application would be rejected, thus revealing that NATO was "anti-Russian" and giving them license to form their own alliance - the Warsaw Pact. Allowing them to join would have effectively made NATO useless.

These and other points here stink of apologism and hypocrisy. It's supremely naive to think Putin is in any way shape or form motivated by "de-Nazification" when he's so supportive of it at home and abroad, or that NATO is somehow responsible for his militarism towards neighboring states.