If there is one thing we should have learned after 20 years at war with a people of a completely different culture and worldview, assuming they think and react like we think and react is not necessarily true.

What we see as silly propaganda, people who live in Russia see as truth. The Russian worldview is based on a completely different perspective. To them, Germany is a threat and having buffers between them is a critical thing to their survival. Their history is full of French, Prussia, Germany devastating their country. The fact that we see ourselves as the good guys, doesn't mean they do. I imagine to a lot, if not the majority of Russians (my opinion, for what it's worth) see him as a patriot fighting for their safety and prosperity. Remember, 20+mil Soviets were killed in WWII. That kind of thing affects your societal view for a long long time.

Put the shoe on the other foot. China creates a treaty with South and Central American countries and states that Mexico will be part of it. Helps drive a China friendly government in Mexico City and supplies them with arms. How would we respond? I doubt it would be too long before tanks were rolling south over the Rio Grande and we'd be pretty steadfast in our support for it. We are all going to say that it's justified and whoever is in the White House is a hero for protecting us from the evil Chinese. It's our worldview, we are the good guys, they are the bad guys. But in their world view, they are the good guys and we are the bad guys.

Not making a judgement on who is the good guy and who is the bad guy, as that is based on my worldview. But not understanding the lens the other side sees things through is often why you end up in these situations. Also, before the peanut gallery starts calling me an Putin lover, the things the Russians are doing are absolutely, without question abhorrent and everything we can do short of sacrificing American lives should be done to stop it and punish them for it. But don't expect the Russian people to rise up and overthrow Putin as a strategy to ending this, cause that is very unlikely. His oligarch buddies taking him out, that is more likely, but then another one of them takes over and nothing really changes.