a major war in Europe that could end in nuclear confrontation
The Situation was:
(1) The most colossal, brutal and deadly military empire the face of the earth has ever known, which in recent years has unscrupulously sent 3-4 million to hell and displaced several million from their homes, or directly or subcontracted chaos, terror and destruction
(2) With an imperial oligarchy that suffers from a rabid, deep, pathological and incurable Russophobia, which permeates everything from top to bottom
(3) An unstoppable trend of encircling, threatening and harassing Russia, and
(4) More than 20 years of unsuccessfully trying to communicate with a bunch of narcissists, cynics, rabid ideological fanatics and little children trapped in delusional fantasies. This complete inability to communicate is frightening. Their interests, desires and even their ultimate sentimental and/or cultural whims are sacred. And the interests and lives of others are worthless
If, for example, 1000 shells a day fall on the Russians in the Don ... The West shrugs its shoulders, and so on. If they are reminded of past promises ... the secretary of state literally shrugged his shoulders in front of minister Lavrov and said "... are/were words", and only failed to add: and we use words to deceive, that's why the Russians tired of lies and deception wanted a written agreement
The Russian ruling class with its grave, unpleasant and rational decision has broken a trend that was inexorably on a "collision course" as we sailors say. It was either war now or a worse war in the future.