Putin wants the old Russian/USSR empire back. He has said as such.
Ukraine has been corrupt and a democrat money laundering country.
Which is the lesser of two evils and can be controlled more easily by the west?
Yes, NATO nations, like Trump said, should be paying their 2% of their GDP into their militaries for their own defense. Time to say enough is enough. Yes we have air and naval bases all over Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, even in some friendly Muslim nations. All to contain Russia and China. They in turn feel like their countries have a western noose around them. Russia has always wanted outlets to the seas and have felt hemmed in by other countries. China once was inward looking for centuries, yet now they want Taiwan and to expand their influence around the world. England and America have been naval powers reaching anywhere in the world an ocean or sea touched. They both should remain that way.
Back to NATO, England and the new Eastern European nations who joined NATO pay their fair share into NATO. Germany, France, and Italy the richest of Nato have not and should. All three have a greater GDP than England due to English socialism (free health care costs a lot of money).