Do you get the impression that the NATO countries don't really want Ukraine to join NATO, and that's why they aren't coming to defend it?

It looks to me like Europe has already calculated that a buffer state is a good thing to prevent Russian and NATO forces rubbing shoulders. It'd be like South Korea suddenly deciding they want troops in the demilitarised zone, it's just strategically boneheaded

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Burnley123 · 41-45, M

What is happening now is not something which NATO countries want.

As Ukraine is not a NATO member, there is no treaty obligation to commit troops to defend it. I also think NATO sending in troops would be an extremely bad idea. However, I do think that the Ukrainians can feel let down by NATO for talking tougher than it is prepared to act.

The sanctions on Russia so far do not include oil and gas, which are the two things which the Russian economy is based on. Europeans don't feel able to impose such sanctions because those are vitally needed commodities.

It's obvious that Russia has been preparing it's economy for this crisis but the western European nations have not. If the economies of the west had more quicker to renewables then they would be less dependent on Russian imports.

With that in mind, the smart thing to do would have been to tell Zelensky on what the EU and NATO were prepared to do, instead of all the hyperbole of doing 'whatever it takes.'