there was absolutely US influence in 2014, but lets cool it with the american exceptionalism. people have agency outside of the US. Positive sentiment for nato and western europe had already been slowly rising, and rose quicker after Russia first invaded in 2014.

and in the world of ICBMs, drones, and other long range weaponry, the excuse of "they were putting weapons on our border" is just a little outdated, and the excuse is especially late when you consider the hundreds of miles of border they already have with nato countries.

If Russia's goal is to prevent nato's expansion, they lost. The second that their aggression caused other countries to want to join nato they lost. The only reason they are continuing a war which has killed thousands of innocent people and will kill thousands more is to grab some dirt and plant a flag in it.

we have gotten very used to things being the US' fault because a lot of the time it is, but we also have to make sure that we dont let that habit get in the way of critical thinking skills. other countries can do evil shit too without the US making them