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Originally Posted by Wormius
This was probably addressed earlier, but what does Russia fear from NATO if they’re not like invading NATO countries?
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Loss of leverage and influence over a direct neighbor. Same reason the US wouldn't tolerate China or Russia aligning with Mexico and potentially putting troops there. I mean, the entire Cold War was about battling over spheres of influence and proxy wars, and this is similar. The US didn't want nuclear missiles in Cuba not because they necessarily thought the USSR was going to use them, but because the implied threat reduced the US's leverage in any confrontation. The US could take a harder stand against Russia if they knew that threat didn't exist in such close proximity. And similarly, Russia probably feels like it can push back against NATO more easily if they don't share a massive and extremely hard to defend land border with a NATO nation.
Now that doesn't necessarily explain the current confrontation. I think it's pretty clear that this war wasn't started solely from a somewhat legitimate (though likely paranoid) fear of NATO or territorial insecurity. It probably has as much or more to do with wanting to project Russian power and for lack of a better term "Make Russia Great Again", though so far at least it's doing the opposite.