Memes

The US conducted the cold war to force the SU into a spending spiral that collapsed their economy. They then spent billions of dollars to install Yeltsin into power. Putin came up through the FSB and and the connections to leverage the oligarchy and institute mafia control of the country. They then worked with the Americans for decades to sell them space launches, military assistance, natural resources and purchase financial services. When the whims of American empire changed they started to poke at Russian sovereignty over and over with an aim to collapse the nation for profit.

1. Instead of disbanding NATO when the SU fell, they expanded it into former Soviet states and entered them into mutual military purchasing agreements with the US.
2. Funding separatist and terrorist groups throughout the Russian periphery to increase military pressure on Russia (Georgia, Chechnya, Iraq, Afghanistan)
3. Used the CIA and other NGO groups in Ukraine to overthrow their government to one that is friendly to the US/EU and hostile Russia causing a civil war where Russian speaking people live in Ukraine and a decade of fighting.
4. Russia didn't invade out of nowhere, they were responding to ongoing fighting in Russian majority areas. Do I personally think the "SMO" was a good move? No, but do I understand it and think that Russia poses a structural threat to US/EU interests? Also no.
5. They conducted a massive military build up in countries surrounding Russia.
6. The US took all of the Russian money in US/EU banking institutions and kept it. If you are holding a huge percentage of someones capital/money hostage and they have no recourse to unfreeze their assets under your management, who controls who? Don't you think that if the Russians had full control over the US government thru illicit means or "kompromat" on Donald Trump that the first course of action would be to unfreeze their assets? People in the US believe Putin was the puppeteer on his meetings with Trump but in reality this person (Putin) was going to their boss and asking for their money back and being told no. The Russian response was to state plainly that Donald Trump is not in control of the US and isn't worth speaking to and that Americans are "agreement incapable" are these the words and actions of the person with an upper hand?
7. The Anglo empire have wanted to break apart the Russian empire since the 19th century. It is a long term historic objective of US/UK imperial interests going back to the Crimean war and before. It was only interrupted by the challenge of an Imperial Germany. The US/UK empires want Russia to pay for the October Revolution in particular with full collapse and balkanization.
8. The Anglo empire wants to split up Russia into its constituent republics and states and pit every one against each other for their profit. They want to sell weapons to the Tartars, they want to extract the natural resources at a discount.