Honestly, if Russia don't like countries joining NATO, they should really try and stop giving Eastern European Countries reasons to join NATO.

I just love how Russia in a span of couple weeks validated the existence of NATO and encouraged certain countries to increase their military budgets, excatly the opposite of what Putin wanted.

As I Polish I can say, we didn't just "wanted" to join NATO, we were begging so it could happen as fast as possible. Look at our history, we were always conquered by some foreign forces, and Russia was least favorable of all of them.

The whole term of 'NATO expansion' is a deeply flawed one. Makes it sound like there's a big stretch of no man's land between those blocks, and NATO just sneaked up in the night and moved the border posts. There are sovereign countries with tens of millions of people there. People who have several centuries worth of reasons to dislike and fear Russia. And if they want to join a military alliance to protect themselves, that's not a threat on Russias's rights, it's simply Russia's own god damn fault. They put enormous energy and ressources into making other countries worse, but nothing into making themselves better.

Cody saying that: “You can’t start wars over a verbal agreement, made before most of your soldiers were even born.” Really hits home. I was born after the agreements, and now I’m of drafting age. You’re a very smart man Cody.

I've seen people also reacting similarly to Ukraine's petition to join the European Union. Yeah, there are criticisms to be made about the EU, but when the UK held a referendum and voted to leave, they were... actually allowed to leave. It was a bureaucratic mess (and more than likely a gigantic mistake), but it happened. Macron didn't march troops into Kent, claiming they were restoring the glory of Normandy, and Merkel didn't start firing rockets into London, claiming they were "protecting ethnic Germans." It is absolutely important to remain vigilant and critical of any and all institutions of power, but false equivalence and whataboutiam only ever benefits autocrats seeking to legitimize and normalize their autocratic behavior.

"Its NATO who makes my neighbours hate me! Not me constantly invading and interfering with them!"

It’s difficult to empathise with Russia’s view of NATO. When many NATO members spent much of their history as sworn enemies and bitter rivals. Britain and France. Britain and the USA. France and Germany. Poland and Germany. And on and on. The crimes that these nations had committed against each other, the wars they fought against each other throughout history are insane in their scale. Yet somehow they are now all united. It is no small feat. And it is not a feat of diplomacy alone. There are some pretty extreme mental gymnastics that have to be made to think that everyone else is the bad guy. But even more so when those “bad guys” spent hundreds of years hating *each other* with a far greater intensity then they ever had for Russia.

Hungarian here: we were Russian allies at gunpoint. After the country was liberated from the Nazis in 1945 a fragile, budding republic was instituted that lasted all the way until 1949. Then with massive Soviet help the Hungarian communists stated a coup d’état and completely took over the country, instituting a total dictatorship. In 1956 Hungarians rebelled against that dictatorship, and the revolutionary government wanted to try some sort of third way Socialism in a more democratic contest. Then Soviet tanks came rolling down our streets. Compared to that joining NATO in 1997 was debated publicly for years and was voted on by the people.

"The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting anti-piracy technology to work. It's by giving those people a service that's better than what they're receiving from the pirates." - Gabe Newell

One argument of this is that Russia turned its eastern allies against them, but even that is not true. All throughout Eastern Europe, especially in Ukraine and Baltics, Russia has tried so hard to completely erase our languages and Russify our culture and ethnicity. We have never been Ruzzias ally, only their little chess pieces, which we have demonstrated time and time again we do not wish to be, like with the Baltic way

Russia: tries to stop one country from joining nato 2 countrys trying to join nato Russia: you were not supposed to do that

Thank you for this video, and thank you especially for addressing the Whataboutism that has been rampant over the past few weeks from Putin apologists.

After decades of extreme cost-cutting for the Bundeswehr now even the German government was convinced to finally raise our military budget OVER the 2% required by the NATO. Nobody else is this effective, Putin, well done. Greetings from Germany.

As an American it’s hard to reconcile with the fact that we’re a belligerent nation that has a large influence across the globe and still do some really horrible stuff to millions of people’s livelihoods. But it’s even harder to look through a rival country’s perspective when they do contortionist gymnastics to justify why they act in the way they do as well. Great video Cody

"We created this Alliance in case you attacked other countries" "That's slander! We're gonna invade another country to prove how wrong you are about us!"

I really admire Cody by standing unbiased and saying that no invasion is good, neither American nor Russian

Basically that scene from Star Wars: "You turned her against me!" "You have done that yourself."

The USSR was the original reason NATO existed. But now Russia is the reason NATO still exists.

Everything with Russia the last 30 years comes down to wounded pride, and a sort of colonial chauvinism that assumes they're entitled to a sphere of influence over any and all "historical Russian territories" regardless of the aspirations of those territories themselves. Rather than take their medicine after the collapse of the Soviet Union and accept that the end of empire comes with some humiliation (ask Britain!), they simply became bitter and paranoid that America wasn't treating them like the co-equal superpower they no longer were. Even now a year into the war when you listen to their propagandists, they spend an inordinate amount of time daydreaming and insisting that Russia is entitled to an empire and is incapable of losing, and that if they cannot have what they want then they should just nuke the planet and be done with it.

The Warsaw Pact was the ONLY Alliance in history that - over the time of its entire existence - constantly fought their own member states. Maybe THAT's "why" all the countries in eastern Europe turned their backs on Russia ... just a thought ... just a thought ...

The weird thing is that Ukraine just wanted a closer approach to the EU rather than NATO. Russian actions not only made Ukraine think about joining NATO but also encouraged neutral nations such as Finland and Sweden to join the organization.

It is worth mentioning that "allies" like Poland for example were forced to be "friendly" with Soviet Union, thats biggest reason they wanted to split from them in the first place.

My country of Denmark chose neutrality during the second world war. And when the germans came to our border we had no choise but to surrender. Never again, no country no peoples deserved to live in fear of their homeland being raped and harvested by another.

As a retired military man, thanks for trying to portray a complex situation in a digestible manner

Putin actually managed to unite the whole Europe against him. Impressive.

Eastern European countries have chosen to join NATO. Politically autonomous nations are entitled to join an organisation if they want to. Putin seems to think that he gets to decide what other sovereign nations do, and that if he can't then that is a threat against him.

Russia is like that one villain with a horrible and tragic backstory but you just can’t root for in any way

Should have talked about the Budapest memorandum, where america, britain, france, china, AND RUSSIA, all agreed to recognise and respect ukraines borders and independence, which was in writing

As a Bulgarian, I was confused why you kept showing the Bulgarian flag while talking about Hungary. The first case seemed like a joke that we were against Hungary joining but then it remained and got me all like: ???

I love all this whataboutism by the russian trolls here. They have no legitimate argument for this debate, so they just point to something bad about NATO that is completely unrelated.

Greetings from a Crimean (now I live in Dnipro, Ukraine). Having my experience of communicating with the Russians, seeing their propaganda and attitude towards other nations, I believe that the "expansion" of NATO is just an excuse for them. Why? Because they did not perceive the collapse of the USSR as real, in their minds it was only a regrouping, saying "We are all supposedly independent countries, but you know who is the boss here and who to obey." Even before 2014, the Russian news did not write about Zhytomyr, for example, as a city from another country. They also talked about films, songs, any events and achievements of the countries of the former Soviet Union as their own. For example, the game Stalker, developed by Ukrainians, was in the "domestic development" category. Also, in Crimea, from the very beginning, they tried to bring as many people from Russia as possible to the local authorities. Various Ukrainian enterprises were massively bought by Russians through fronts to have more influence. "Gas wars", food wars, etc. These were their actions of coercion, not protection of interests. Therefore... They were not afraid of NATO, they have nuclear weapons and they know that no one would attack them. They only wanted to preserve the Soviet Union in a new format. And, of course, it scared the neighboring countries, which were trying to somehow build independent states. In Ukraine, until 2014, there was no desire to join NATO at all, because "why?". All that Russian propaganda was perceived as something laughable. But after the Russian invasion 10 years ago, joining NATO was like our dream, we built an army almost from scratch and asked for protection. Now many people say that we need to negotiate with Russia, but the agreements don't really mean much to them. They point out to their opponents the violation of some non-existent agreements, even though they themselves have been doing it since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Khasavyurt Agreements, the Budapest Memorandum, and even the Russian constitution itself, which requires a national referendum to revise state borders.

Someone from Poland here. We treat our "alliance" with USSR as occupation. We never wanted to be part of communism block, we were sentenced to it in Yalta. We didn't feel like Russian's friends then, but as Russian's subordinates. Also, in our minds Poland always has been part of the western civilization (we use Latin alphabet, took Christianity from Rome, etc.). So it's natural that after we freed ourselves in 1989/1990, we didn't want to be part of Russian influence zone but we wanted to join Western Europe, hence NATO and EU. And I think every nation should respect sovereignty of other nations and let them do what they want in their country (as long as even more important declarations, such as human rights, are respected).

You bring up a lot of good points, the one I would add is the shale oil deposits in Ukraine, if they were to be invested in it would allow Europe to become completely energy independent of Russia. And that would be crippling both to the Russian economy and would take away one of Putin's best ways to influence Europe.

Rússia has no say on what other countries can or cannot do.

Ask these "friends" what they think about Russia. See what happens. Warmest FU to mr Putin from Poland.

What some people in Russia will never understand is that even with all the problems that NATO and, above all, the USA have, all the states joined the alliance voluntarily because they are allowed to govern their countries more freely and self-deterministically. Countries like Poland have experienced a gigantic economic boom since they have been allowed to operate freely. This is the real power of the West, not being a pawn of a super power but a smaller partner in an alliance.

Putin never asked himself why post soviet countries were moving away from them. It simply because the Putin style of government leads to nowhere. South Korea has an economy that equal to that of the size of Russia. Russia is still no where near the quality of life found in Germany or Japan. Russia is a country with immense potential but it is not going anywhere under Putin.

Old video, but I like how you put the link for the Red Cross organization to help the Ukrainians.

I also really hate the "NATO Expansionism" excuse: The idea that everything Russia is doing is only a reaction to an increasingly aggressive and expansionist NATO, and that the US is really to blame for everything Russia is doing. It's a bad excuse that just makes you sound smart, until you look deeper into it. As stated at the start of this video, there was never a written in stone agreement that NATO wouldn't expand past Germany, in fact the whole thing stems from a suggestion brought up at the meeting which was immediately shot down. And Russia being humiliated that they lost their "empire" is no excuse to placate them. Furthermore, and far more importantly, Russia is a nuclear power! They do not need a land buffer between them and NATO! They have weapons that can literally blast their enemies into the stone age which can circle the globe! This isn't the 1800s where the first army to mobilize and reach the battlefield wins by default!

I was just talking about this with one of my Russian friends right before this whole mess. We had a lot of back and forth but at the end of the day we both agreed that Putin and those in the Duma are bad for Russia and the rest of Europe and that Putin would see Eastern Europe and Russia go up in flames before he ever let's go of his power. Then the next day I hear that Russia is invading Ukraine and my friend is trying to get out of Russia because the government is now after him for speaking out. Last I heard he was trying to get to Estonia from St. Petersburg right after hearing the police were looking for him to "question" him. Those people had family members taken because they spoke out against the war and had the guts to openly call him a war criminal. They were going to Finland but he decided to attempt to make it to Estonia since his parents live there. That was five days ago. Update: Heard from my friend that he made it to his family in Estonia. That you to everyone who was hoping he was safe.

One thing Cody didn't really touch upon regarding why Russia panicked so much about NATO expansion: Geopolitically, Russia is obsessed with security due to the geographical vulnerability of their heartlands, which was conductive to land invasion and had led to them being invaded many times throughout history from the Mongolian Hordes to the Swedish Empire to Napoleonic France to Nazi Germany. With no reliable natural barriers like a sufficiently large mountain range or impassable river to anchor themselves, their solution had been to expand in all directions, east towards Asia, south towards the Middle East and west towards Europe, so as to create as much buffer space as possible for an army to cross, and then create even more buffers beyond that by putting smaller countries they can't conquer under their influence as puppets and allies. Because of this, the collapse of the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union was seen as disasters in the Russians' eyes because they had suddenly found their territory indefensible with the loss of all those client states and territories. In 1941-2 the Nazis had to cross literally thousands of miles of Soviet territory just to barely see Moscow in the distance before they were pushed back - now, their borders are no more than hundreds of miles from their capital, while they are surrounded by countries liberated from the USSR who are hostile to it and may be willing to let themselves become a launchpad for an invasion into the heart of Russia. THIS is the reason why the Russians are so afraid, and why the Russians had throughout history been obsessed with conquering and controlling other smaller nations around them, their sovereignty be damned. Does this justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine? *NO.* Of course not. Such a mindset is outdated in an era of nuclear weapons and globalization, and this doctrine can only be achieved at the expense of other nations and peoples which are as entitled to the right of self-determination and independence as Russia does - and their desire is to not be dominated by Russia again. It would be great if Russia's and eastern Europe's national interests and security could all be satisfied in some way, but when it comes to choosing between one nation's national security and interests versus that of dozen other countries' national security and interests, the greater good of the many prevails. That Russia would go so far under Putin to get their precious 'security' back is not only morally unjustifiable with all the death and destruction they caused, but in the long run do more harm to Russia itself on every level than making it great again by making it ever more isolated against a world now largely united against it - an irony that is evidently lost on Putin, a murderous and conniving ex-KGB officer trapped in the past and unable to move on from the collapse of the USSR. EDIT: Sorry, got the distances wrong. Yes, Russia used to have thousands of miles of buffer, but now they only have hundreds of miles between their borders and their heartlands. It's fixed.

Short Answer: No Long Answer: Definitely Not.

No one likes a bully! Russia's idea of friendship is more like extortion by threat!

For all of NATO’s faults, it didn’t take US tanks rumbling through Warsaw and Berlin to get them to join. The Warsaw Pact on the other hand…

For the record. The story goes, Stalin instigated more than 50 assassinations on Tito. So it follows, ex-YU states were never friends with USSR. Serbia has a closer cultural connection. And Russia supported it in the 90’ Balkans conflict. So they tend to have a biased opinion on the subject. Otherwise, no. Yugoslavia founded unaligned bloc in the 50’. Just so they could get Stalin off their back.

As a defense contractor, I lost my job in the early 10's when NATO was being seen increasingly as a relic in a world tired of american interventionism. I got it back when Putin invaded Georgia and, thanks to the 'special operation,' have more job security than I'll ever know what to do with. Thanks, Putin, for reviving the western military industrial complex and ensuring I'll always have work! NATO salesman of the decade!

I love when they say "NATO is crawling to russias border." The countries are volunteering to join. 😂😂😂

I think Putin expected the slow, democratic processes in the West to be divided over the topic of Ukraine, especially how demoralized everyone became after Afghanistan.

It's also amazing how Russia invaded one country in fear it might join NATO, but that only caused other neutral nations to reconsider their stance. I live in Austria and they have been neutral since their independence in the 50s. Since the invasion of Russia there have been multiple politicians speaking about how dropping the neutrality and joining NATO might be a better choice than to possibly stand alone.

Blaming NATO for your own actions is like saying Doctor Who is right wing propaganda because of the Daleks

It shouldn't be up to outside powers to decide whether NATO should expand or not. If a country wants to join an alliance for protection, they should be allowed to do.

Romanian here. After WWII, our country was also forced to become communist under the influence of Moscow. Our king, Michael, had hopes to rule as a constitutional monarch, bringing democracy to Romania. But the ruling communist party forced him to abdicate, allegedly by holding some students hostage. So, yeah. The only Warsaw Pact member happy to be part of it was the USSR. Just ask the Czechs, Slovaks and Hungarians.

Good summary. You have to remember that the fall of Soviet Union is often seen as a "win" of liberation and democracy in the West, but for Russia itself it was a giant social catastrophe that destroyed the economy and the livelihoods of millions of regular people, and gave rise to corrupt oligarchy, that took roughly decade and half to recover from.

So...not only was this a verbal agreement, but it was one that was done just by the president without going through congress? It has no value whatsoever, especially since that president is no longer elected today.

As a Russian, I sometimes feel sad for the moments when my country was on top. It pleases me to realize this, I would like to be a citizen of the gendarme of Europe, only in the 21st century and so on. I guess it's a matter of mentality, but the strength of a country and its position on the world stage is very important here. There is guarding, "ohranitelstvo"- a very popular idea of protecting power as such. To be strong, to be important - it touches most people and probably Putin too. But we lost the Cold War, you don't wave your fists after a fight. I would very much like to live in peace with the European nations, I feel a kinship with you, it's a pity that this is the case. I hope we can put aside prejudices and live amicably.

"It's good to try and see from all perspectives, yet not all perspectives are equal - sometimes the perspective is simply that another nation was a mistake to exist." What a nice quote.

One detail is missing, conflicts in Georgia, Moldovia happened before NATO expansion in 1992. It is not like Russia stopped assuming that they were in control of former USSR republic, they wanted to remain in control, even tried to create alternative to EU and NATO - CIS. That is why those countries still showed desire to join NATO to escape inevitable while they could. Baltic states, Poland, Romania etc. got lucky to join before Russia was weak, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova wasn't lucky.

To add additionally - Ukraine didn't planned to join NATO before Russia aggression at 2014. Even more - at 2021 there was no strong and clean movement. But Putin wrote few public topic where "Ukraine doesn't exist, it is artificial country, belong to Russia blabla". So, what was Putin expectation after that?! Of course we decided to join NATO as fast as possible.

One of Russia’s justifications was that the Russian people needed “Living Space” literally the same thing HITLER said when he invaded the USSR, now, Putin says the largest nation on Earth needs “living space”. And that he is the good guy. Riiiiiiight. Also, the orchestral version of the “Wide Walk” song was a perfect addition to that end screen

Baltics were never Soviet allies, we were brutally occupied and victims of settler colonialism. It is obvious that we wanted to run away from Russia as fast as possible when it was possible.

Your theory about Russia thinking they would still keep their special privileges makes a lot of sense. For centuries, that’s how Europe worked. A great example if the Franco-Prussian war. Yeah, France got their ass kicked and lost some territory, but they were still a great power. Their opinion still mattered and they were still included in stuff. The Russian Government was probably imagining something like a modern day Concert of Europe, where all of the big powers make sure nothing too crazy happens, and they’re all allowed to do their own little sides things because they are great powers. Russia didn’t expect to suddenly be just another country in Europe, and its leaders were very unhappy with that kind of Europe Edit: corrected it’s to its

I saw a great illustration of the problem for Russia. The presenter showed a picture of Stockholm in all understated scandic beauty and said "This is what it looks like when NATO expands its borders". Then the presenter showed the picture of a Ukrainian town reduced to a desolate burnt out wasteland as part of its supposed "liberation" by Russia and said "This is what it looks like when Russia expands its borders"! If the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and now Putin's Russia had not been such a brutal occupier and untrustworthy neighbour for over 300 years, Eastern Europe would not have been so eager to join NATO.

Russia is literally like a toddler who screams when someone else gets a toy they wanted

What’s also important about how good NATO is, when France decided to leave NATO’s joint military command they were able to. But when Hungary tried to leave the Warsaw Pact they were trampled with tanks. The only pressure countries have to join NATO is Russian aggression.

In Estonia, the president has this symbolic chain of office, which is a big thick and wide decorated necklace that they wear during certain national ceremonies. During World War II, when Soviet Russia occupied our lands under the false promise of protection, they not only put our first president (who in fact welcomed them) into prison where he died, they also stole the president's chain of office. It still remains in Russia in a Moscow museum to this day even though Estonia has officially asked them numerous times to return it. They won't return it. Because to Russia it's a symbol of their belief that they own these lands. To Estonians it's a symbol of Russia's lingering threat to our young nation. Time and again, we have been proven right to worry. It's like living right next to Mordor. The question is not if we'll be attacked but when.

During the Cold War, NATO was just a military alliance. But in my personal opinion, I think it’s good they stayed around. Before the War in Ukraine, I don’t think NATO was exactly AGAINST Russia. It was still a military alliance, but I think it kind of grew into something more. But who knows, just my opinion. I’m not a major politician, I’m just some dumb**s on the internet.

As an Estonian, I would propose this to Putin and NATO- Putin picks a line over which NATO troops can't cross (whether it's Berlin or whatever) but in return, Putin also needs to keep his troops the same distance away (in the other direction) from any sovereign nation (such as Estonia, Latvia, and Ukraine). This is a fair deal- NATO doesn't surround Russia and Russia doesn't threaten neighboring countries.

He managed to do something that has not been achieved in a long while, unite the west. He gave reason for NATO to exist as you said but he also made the EU re unite as it looked as though it may collapse soon at the end of last year

As a Pole, our people chose EU and NATO. We have been treated like trash by Russia and its Soviet incarnation. Russia occupied our country, stationed troops ready to suppress our desire for independence during 40 years under Soviet colonial control. That’s why we want nothing to do with Russia. We wish Russia would become a good neighbour after the Cold War, but instead it chose revisionist imperialism.

Awesome video dude, I wish more people would see it.

Good clear insights and commentary. Thanks

What the Russians (and many others) also didn't consider was that NATO was *not* just a military alliance against _them,_ but against _anyone else_ that got into a "disagreement" with the West. NATO has had military interventions in various other non Europen regions of the World (such as Libya) and still has face offs with China - which by itself justifies NATO's existence. Just because the Soviet Union is gone didn't mean that the West could unilaterally scale back their military and sing Kumbaya around a campfire because the World was now peaceful.

Excellent video Cody. The sad truth is; if the eastern Europian countries would not have to be afraid of a big bad neighbour, then there would not be a wish to join it or even exist in the first place. Just look at Finland. For decades they sat on the top border of Russia during the entire cold war as a free independant democratic country. Now however their wish to join NATO is stronger than it ever was before

As like Theodore Roosevelt said "speak politely and Carry a big stick(at your back), and you will be successful"

Basically, imperialism is bad no matter who is doing it.

This is a great brief cover of how we got here with Russia. Can we do an alternate history of what would Russia be if Putin didn't get in charge like say the right people in the FSB found out who was behind the 1999 Moscow bombings and arrested the ring leaders.

This actually adds some interesting context to one of the weirdest experiences in my life. I lived in Riga, Latvia around 2006, which apparently was shortly after Latvia joined NATO. I was there because I was still young and living with my parents, and my dad worked for the US State Department. From time to time I would walk my dog in a park close to our apartment there, and would catch seemingly random people taking pictures of me, and then hurriedly hiding the camera when they could tell I was looking. Creeped me out a little, and now my guess would be I had good reason to be creeped out. My guess would be that it was probably the Russians trying to find out ways they could exploit my dad if they needed to for reasons related to Latvia joining NATO. Might have been gathering possible targets. Still not sure, though, but this video sure gave me some interesting pieces to the puzzle

Split nation??? Seriously? When will the West start seeing Ukraine for what it is NOW? It has been split for some time, but in 2019 we elected our president with an overwhelming majority all across the country. Since 2014, the overwhelming majority in the entire country wants to join the EU, with the polls showing in the last years up to 80%. We are less split than the US or Brazil. And I am talking before the war. Now more than 90% of the population supports the government and we have never been more united in our vision of the future.

I have a very hard time empathizing with Russia’s view of NATO, especially when their actions continue to justify NATO’s existence. They clearly expected some kind of special status in Europe because that’s what they always had.

Hi. I'm Cuban and just wanted to say thank you for not supporting the embargo/blockade on my country. Many people outside of Cuba do not understand how harmful it is to the ones living inside the island (except the Cuban government, they don't give a shit and are even happy with having a justification to their ineptitude).

Even if no new nations joined NATO, Russia would've attempted to reintegrate these nations back anyway.

If there was no NATO, Baltic states would be gone before 2010.

I’ll say this now. How could NATO betray Russia? We’re not even on the same side.

And now even more neutral nations like Finland and Sweden are considering NATO membership so, if Putin wanted to prevent NATO expansion, he failed utterly.

I'm still convinced that Russia joining NATO would've been the "blursed good end" timeline I wish we ended up with. It was utterly unlikely and I suspect it would've made NATO absolutely pointless, but it also would've been hilarious. So...what if Russia had somehow ended up in NATO?

What I find funny about argument of "NATO expanding east", it's more of east wanting to be part of NATO, I mean, Poland literally blackmailed NATO so they'll be able to join.

The problem with Russia is how they treat their "allies". 1956 and 1968 shows that even if they are parteners Russia is so agressive that EVERYthing needs to be in their way. While NATO is more liberal in that regard. It has Turkey in it which... Is not a democratic country. And some nations that have socialist like programs. So the US is not that bad when it comes to partnership. At least in Europe. In the Middle East...

The most intriguing thing here is that every Eastern European country BEGGED to join NATO. It was not NATO forcing them. Clinton even hesitated with caution at first about the expansion, though he eventually decided to push it. There is a fair amount of arguments whether EU and NATO "initiated" the pro-west and pro-EU movements in Ukraine. But this war clearly shows how much Ukraine and the people are standing up against Putin's Russia. That itself is a huge win for EU and NATO, and huge loss for Putin's Russia.

Also important to note that the nato agreement was about military bases not being placed to the east, it had nothing to do with countries east of NATO not joining NATO. If you look at maps during the time period this agreement would have taken place during, the idea of moving east doesn't even make sense.

Nice video! Just a short note: when talking about Hungary from 8:12 onwards, you use the Bulgarian flag mistakenly :) Edit: wrong timestamp

A lot of Russians don’t see their “neighbors” as neighbors. They see everything that was part of the USSR as their own territory that they would like to bring back, at least influence wise because they don’t approve of the collapse of the USSR. Whether it’s right or wrong to see it that way that’s what a lot of people think if you imagine any country disintegrating into many countries people may not be happy with such a territory loss.

Russia had 10 years to establish themself as a multicultural trading nation between the far east and the west. With the Trans-Siberian Railway they could have gained a lot of influence and money with trade.

I can't imagine why so many countries that had their culture and right to self govern suppressed by the USSR (Russia) would want to join a community of powerful nations who are obligated to defend them from future attacks from a similar nation

12:48 without paying attention to the screen, I had to rewind back for the phrase "former allies". I was relieved to see "allies" in quotation marks.

You just earned a subscriber. And you have excellent speech.... clearance.... you speak clearly and stuff. Mwah.

Russia be like: "People want to join NATO, because they are afraid of our attack, so we will attack to show them they are wrong"

It's not a betrayal if they were never on your side.

Who's here after Finland joined NATO

It’s funny how NATO went from something that was seen as something kinda superfluous and old fashioned and full of significant internal problems to something that is stronger than ever and highly popular to the point that music videos about it are being made to make it look cool. All in less than a year…