“Russia should not have had its safety and security threatened by NATO expansion and weaponry.”

Russia as a nation is not threatened by former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact nations wanting to be part of NATO. It is Putin who feels threatened as he sees his sphere of influence declining, as fewer nations prefer oligarchs and autocrats.

Putin is a thug and a gangster with behavior that is reminiscent of Al Capone or Joseph Stalin. Anyone who opposes him runs the risk of disappearing or being poisoned, even when in a foreign land! His military land grabs of Crimea, Donbas and now the entirety of Ukraine would have made the ruthless Tsars and dictators who ever held power in the Kremlin quite proud.