Don’t mess up, thinking Ukraine’s joining in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is the only key concern for Mr. Putin; rather, he wants the West to teach a good lesson by any means. Mr. Putin, an unbroken Russian leader, becomes intensified when NATO and its allies, especially the United States, interfere with their home affairs, like the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

August 21, 2021, Mr. Putin in his 17th state of the nation address warned the West “not to cross the red line”. If they did, the Russians would strongly offer them a “rapid and harsh” response. That’s how the world sees it now: ‘invasion on Ukraine’.

Don’t mess with Russia

The West used Ukraine as a weapon against Russia, recognizing Ukraine’s membership in NATO, which was not only a mount worthy -wrong decision but also a decisive policy. The West’s motive was to curb Russia’s aggression by expanding NATO’s military presence in Ukraine, as Russia occupied Crimea before, which was the biggest threat to Europe.

The consequence was that Russia built up a military base nearby Eastern Ukraine, falsely ascertaining the world leaders that “we don’t want war”, but the satellite unfolded the real image in which it’s been seen Russia deploying massive weapons near the border and later announcing war publicly. And finally, Rush president declared the independence of the two regions — Donetsk and Luhansk of Ukraine.

Don’t care about sanctions by the West

President Mr. Putin knew many more sanctions would be imposed upon invasion of Ukraine, the sovereign nation, but where is the Putin’s mighty actually concealed? One of Mr. Putin’s strongest strengths is his geopolitical influence in Southeast Asia, where China, the leading economic country, plays a crucial role and India, Russia’s old buddy and the first arms importer, plays neutrality.

Zaleski's move

Now, Volodymyr Zaleski, the Ukrainian President, declares, “We will defend ourselves,” failing to get international active help to combat giant Russia. After a breakaway of Ukraine’s 2000 kilometers by the Russian military, Mr. Zelensky falls into the pondering that Russia may further occupy another part of their territory. Perhaps, it will soon come into reality — today or tomorrow.

His current decision ‘defending ourselves’ is at least praiseworthy, as world experts see Russia doesn’t want any Western military presence close to his neighboring countries like Ukraine, Belarus, or Georgia that threatens the security issues of Russia, and most importantly, the membership of any of his neighbors in NATO.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, a democratic country, is showing the world what the consequences might be if the West, with its allies, tries to expand their military drills that threaten Russia directly.

The solution to further de-escalation

Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the UN, urges Mr. Putin to “stop your troops from attacking Ukraine”. His urge seems to have failed. Russia has a sweet biliteral relationship with India. In a phone call, Indian President Modi has urged Mr. Putin to end the war. In response to Modi’s urge, the fearless leader, Mr. Putin let him know to focus his attention on the development of Ukraine. The phone calls seem to have failed too.

All of their efforts won’t come true until President Zelensky sits back from the West and rejects NATO’s membership. Otherwise, peace negotiations between the countries won’t be possible, whether it’s foreign talks or diplomatic talks.

The West, along with the US, must stop supplying arms and weapons as well as sending troops to Ukraine. They have to declare that they have rejected Ukraine’s membership in NATO. In addition to withdrawing soldiers from Ukraine, Germany should reactivate the Russian North Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe.

These are the signals that show that NATO and its allies are interconnected, which is a prime headache for Mr. Putin. If they don’t want to witness any further wreckages in Ukraine, they have to come to a pact in negotiations. Otherwise, the next step by both sides might be catastrophic, which may be unimaginable!

Note: This is of my observational article, written back in Aug. 2019 but still the article seems obvious and relevant and alive too in the context of unabated war between Ukraine and Russia.