So to avoid any conflict with Russia, we should do what? Step back, ignore everything they do, pretend there is no threat to us?
Appeasement never has a positive or happy ending.
..............and anyone depending on the whack job Zero Hedge site for guidance is laughable.
Probably ought to pay more attention to what's going on. Russia is paranoid about invasion, they've been invaded more than any other nation in Europe, it's a paranoia that's in their blood. Us asking all the former Eastern block nations to join NATO would be like Russia enlisting all of the America's into the Warsaw Pact during the cold war.
We don't NEED any of those nations in NATO, and having them join NATO just pushes tensions that don't need to be pushed. What is the gain in doing this, it sends us right back to the Cold War.
This NATO stuff is the dumbest foreign policy move I can possibly think of. All risk, no gain.
