Not sure what we’re strongly disagreeing about. I certainly don’t think the USA strong armed Eastern European countries into NATO/EU. But the interest was there in eastern europe for all of the reasons you point out, and the USA supported it.
Putin has often complained about the USA/West encroaching on Russia, but while the USA/West has many of its own issues, it marks a step forward. (edit: didn’t finish my thought. Marked a step forward for many eastern european nations. Natural that they’d want to join.)
Not sure what we’re strongly disagreeing about. I certainly don’t think the USA strong armed Eastern European countries into NATO/EU. But the interest was there in eastern europe for all of the reasons you point out, and the USA supported it.
Putin has often complained about the USA/West encroaching on Russia, but while the USA/West has many of its own issues, it marks a step forward. (edit: didn’t finish my thought. Marked a step forward for many eastern european nations. Natural that they’d want to join.)