>Not an American

Most certainly a serf-subject in one of its puppet states, then, perhaps an active member of NATO - already well known across the globe for committing decades of atrocity in states deemed inferior by a heinously racist oligarchic ruling class in the Western hemisphere.

>Furthermore, I come from a country that already tried "making peace" with Russians during the Woodrow Wilson-inspired era of neutrality in Europe.

The USSR is long gone.

Its the 21st Century. New diplomacy is possible. We just don't do that any more, though. We (Western nations) prefer to see trillions of dollars spent on war and calamity instead.

>Nothing says defensive war like ..

.. stating, repeatedly for decades, that the presence of NATO-aligned forces within km's of Russias borders was a red line and would be treated as an act of aggression against Russia, which reserved the right to respond - AS EVERY SINGLE NATION IN THE WORLD HAS THAT RIGHT. This was stated, countless times leading up to the calamity, but it was utterly ignored by NATO allies in their rush to Russia's border.

The victims of the Wests' imperialist aggression know full well that NATO is not a good force in the world. NATO has the blood of millions, and millions of peoples lives on its hands - maybe they are not European and therefore not considered as important as European victims, in your mind?

>And this has gone on for more than two years

Two years? This conflict begins in 2008.

Nobody wants this war, which is why it is such a travesty that it happened. It could have been prevented, had there actually been any diplomatic actions taken by Western nations, including Ukraine. However, the risk of war was taken instead, and now here we are - in spite of multiple repeated warnings.

>I want to live the way I choose, not the way Russians force me to, with your approval.

Then face the consequences for the way those actions are received by your enemies.

Would you be so willing to have your enemy build 10 bases along your border, all the while saying they "don't mean you any harm" while their military is busy actively demolishing countless sovereign states around the world, murdering millions of innocent people in cold blood, building 1,000 bases across the landscape for the purpose of torture and other highly illegal activities?

Because thats what the US and its allies had been doing, in the DECADES leading up to the Ukraine conflict. To a very significant portion of the worlds population, the US and its allies STARTED WORLD WAR 3 with the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the subsequent cold-blooded murder of 5% of its population. Were you not paying attention to this atrocity - because the Russians surely did.

Ukraine is just the latest in a long string of heinous atrocities that were called for by the US' military junta (PNAC) in its desire to refactor the ENTIRE WORLD according to their highly specious cultural imperative.

I highly doubt your country would tolerate having its enemies begin construction of hostile bases along its borders.

I understand, however, your lack of empathy for this point, since it counter-acts the war-lust with which you are clearly afflicted.