Yeah, watching the frenzy over this in the west has been pretty wild given things NATO has done over the years. In fact, the whole thing is directly modelled on what NATO did in Yugoslavia. NATO recognized the independence of the breakaway regions, then had them invite NATO for support, and hold referendums on independence. This is literally the model that Russia is using right now in Ukraine.

Europe clearly misunderstood the state of economic interdependence with Russia, and the economic war was started based on the idea that Russian economy would quickly collapse. The reality turned out to be that Russia is self sufficient in essentials such as food, energy, and industrial production while Europe is not.

Seems like most Europeans, including the leadership, have been drinking their own kool-aid when it comes to Russia. This seems to be the source of all the bravado. People simply don’t have a grasp on how the economies of their countries actually work.

At this point Europe will be learning its place in the world through a very hard objective lesson.