If Russia decides to attack Ukraine for whatever the reason, the battlefield will be Ukraine, not Russia, and Western countries can decide to defend Ukraine even if the country is not part of NATO, without attacking Russian territory
Ukrainian law enforcement officers take part in special tactical training exercises held by police, the National Guard and security services at the Kalanchak training ground in the Kherson region, Ukraine, February 12, 2022.
Image: Irakli Gedenidze / Reuters
The development of the Ukrainian crisis depends on one main demand from Russia, that Ukraine cannot join NATO. Among the reasons, there is an undocumented promise to Gorbachev that NATO will not extend eastwards, or the fear of American troops on the border with Russia. There is however another, practical and strategic, reason, why Russia insists on its demand.
NATO is a military alliance, established in 1949. It constitutes a system of collective security, whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. It means that all member states are under the obligation to protect the territorial integrity of all alliance members. This is where the problem lies.