although the political paths were open, putin preferred war and ended both his country and himself.
As I already post link with interview of EX NATO Secretary General.
HI SAID IT CLEAR.
putin tested NATO when he INVADE Georgia . World, NATO DID NOT REACT. After that putkin just Redeploy and PREPARE for NEXT.
At moment at putkin MENU is Ukraine.
there you go
RFE/RL: Instead, you followed that with the NATO-Russia partnership in 2010.
Rasmussen: Yeah, yeah. When I took office in 2009, I reached out to the Russians and told them it's one of my priorities to develop such a strategic partnership, despite the fact that one year earlier they had attacked Georgia. So we have done a lot. But maybe Putin misread our thoughts and I think [that a] lesson learned from history is that appeasement with dictators does not lead to peace, it leads to war and conflict.
AND LINK
Please read it Carefully .
Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen discusses how Vladimir Putin's views have changed over the years. Rasmussen, who was secretary-general between 2009-14, says Putin is obsessed with the idea of restoring the greatness of the Soviet Union and has turned Russia into a pariah state.
www.rferl.org