Nyet. Putin wouldn't do that to his friends.
Well, the Baltic states are in NATO. Personally, if I were running the show, I’d put nukes in the Baltic states; I’d also let Ukraine split, roughly along the line of the Dnieper River, and then I’d damned well see to it that the new-fangled West Ukraine not only becomes NATO, but nuclear-armed as well.
If Russia feels the need to expand, they’re welcome to do so in a southerly direction.
I think our problem was that we expanded NATO. A NATO of 28 to 30 countries is too big to get anything done. And its sheer size is a recipe for institutional paralysis. The Russians would not mind West Ukraine becoming the 29th member. NATO is what - the military arm of the EU. Which is about as frightening to Russia as Casper the Ghost.
Nyet. Putin wouldn't do that to his friends.
Yes, that is what Reagan did, right? Helped arm and defend the NATO nations.