“All they are being asked to do is respect their neighbors existential concerns….”
Are you trolling and we are missing your sarcasm or are you truly that naive? How about Ukraine’s “existential” concerns. If they forego their right to align themselves with whomever they choose, they will be slowly swallowed by Russia w/o any need for military action. NATO has never “threatened” another country and indeed has been rather toothless in response to multiple provocations over the years. There is no existential threat to Russia aside from Putin’s own sense of paranoia.