It's rather nauseating how the Russiaphobic Left has treated the Ukraine/Russia war as a "good war" and treated Ukrainian President Zelensky as sort of a political rock star. Make no mistake--I consider the Russian invasion a violation of the non-aggression principle.
Doting coverage of the Ukrainian cause is replete in the Western press. You'll see Zelenaky in a hospital visiting a young female patient, giving her flowers. CNN has provided coverage of Zelensky's addresses to Canada's legislature, the US Congress, Germany, etc. Multiple interviews with Poroshenko, his predecessor, on the streets of Kyiv. A lot of coverage of Ukranian requests for a no-fly-zone, fighter jets, advanced weaponry, etc.; while CNN notes pushback from the Biden Administration on the requests for a no-fly-zone and turning over the 23 Polish MiG's, you don't see coverage of the risks of the war's expansion, Russia's long-standing objections to NATO expansion, especially to its borders, etc. This observation should not misconstrued as a rationalization for Putin's aggression, but consider, for instance, the Cuban missile crisis. In the aftermath of the collapse of the USSR, NATO expanded its reach into east Europe, which alarmed Russia. I've been worried about political pressure, including a bipartisan pro-interventionist Congress, to force Biden's hand on provocative measures, expanding the war.
On top of all of this, you have Trump, who is enjoying every issue which is dropping Biden's job approval ratings to 40.9, proudly pointing out that Putin did not intervene on his watch and arguing if he were still POTUS, Russia would not have invaded. The leftist Dems are quick to argue that Trump is anti-NATO. There is a point to be made that Putin found Trump a useful idiot. Trump, for his own reasons, didn't like the fact that most NATO nations have been freeloading off US' taxpayer funding and was willing to withdraw some US troops to pressure allies into picking up more of the financial burden. I'm sure that Putin found the confrontation among NATO nations and the possibility of fewer American troops in Europe a step in the right direction. But as I pointed out in a recent tweet, the foreign policies of Russia and the US differed under Trump. Take, for example, their differing alliances in Syria. But the Hillary Clinton's talking point that Trump wanted to withdraw from NATO was false.
It's impossible to know what Putin would have done during a second-term Trump Presidency. I do think that Putin would have calculated that Biden, like Hillary Clinton, would have more likely intervened to an attack than Trump, so it's possible, if not likely, Putin would have preferred to attack with Trump as POTUS.
