NATO poked Russian bear

Re. A Mullins letter World not picking on Russia (Castanet, Jan. 30)

While it's true Russia invaded Ukraine, it's not true Ukrainians were living in peace until the spring of 2022.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2014. The situation is complex and people fail to realize that when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, Russia was given assurances NATO would not move its forces further east.

However, that's exactly what NATO did. They poked the bear and it has had consequences.

Ukraine is hardly a stable democracy, that's why its initial application to join NATO was denied. It's corrupt in many ways. The current conflict, in my opinion, is in fact a proxy war being waged by the west.

It’s a great place for testing weapons technology and the arms dealers of the world are loving it. NATO has the resources to defeat Russia, so why don't they and end the war? It's because that's not the goal.

The west is responsible for provoking Russia, period.

Further, all the sanctions have done is increase prices on almost everything we consume. It amazes me that western nations can find billions of dollars to fund the war in Ukraine, but can't find the funds to fix poverty and homelessness in our own backyards.

Jeff Watson