Russians very reasonably see NATO as an existential threat and this is why

What Pozner is saying is NATO has been making very strong KOBK (Kill-or-be-Killed) moves against Russia. KOBK is a ground-floor “game theory” of world power struggles. KOBK is the bottom line for political and military strategists. Globalism only makes KOBK more intense. Globalism emphatically does not mean “global kumbaya.” The West is being neither rational nor fair and certainly not innocent when it pretends it has not provoked forced Russia to answer their NATO and Central Asian encroachments with a KOBK move of its own—invading Ukraine. Putin would have been happy with believable assurances that NATO will not occupy Ukraine. But now, who knows? My hope and best guess is he wants regime change in Ukraine and solid assurances NATO will never try this again. This is not a time to fight fire with fire or to moralize without a full deck of cards as most of the West is doing. Russia owns the morality on this one. The smart move would be to concede and let them have what they deserve. ABN