As you said, also with no offense intended to Butterfly Kisses, we need to stop thinking of the world order as separated into governments that are good guys and those that are bad guys, and to be naive enough to think that altruistic urges above that of the petty urge to make money and claim territory/resources rules the decisions that corporate-controlled governments like the USA makes.

Yes, it was wrong for Russia to invade Ukraine. But it was heavily provoked on purpose for all the reasons you mentioned in your post by a president who was put in office via a USA-led coup to oust a democratically elected president because the former was a better shill for the American government and its business interests. The fact that Zelensky is a billionaire should be one major hint. The fact that Russia has felt threatened for a long time by the expansion of NATO is another since the end of the Cold War. Let us also keep in mind that the USA has repeatedly broken the Minsk Agreement they made with Russia back after the Soviet Union fell apart to never expand NATO past Germany (which was already seen as ominous by Russia considered Germany invaded it twice during the 20th century).

And one can still say it's the right of Ukraine to accept an offer for membership in NATO that the USA promised never to offer any other country? Accepting membership in NATO would be beyond foolish for Zelensky, and he knows that too. Yet we argue that it should be okay for Zelensky to make such a disastrous decision, or even just posture about it like the USA wants him to do, when we all know it would likely bring on World War 3 and a nuclear weapons exchange between the USA and Russia?

Remember how the USA acted when Russia moved weapons into Cuba? How would the USA act if weapons were moved by Russia or China right at their border via Canada or Mexico?

I'm sorry, but poking a vicious bear when the lives of an entire planet are at stake over it is not an ethical right. Keep in mind the people arguing over the right to make a decision that will have untold demonstrable harm to this entire planet are the same people that insist I would be evil incarnate if I kissed a willing 13-year-old girl. Yes, I think that is relevant too, because it tells us much about the priorities of the players in this conflict.

Yet we continue to see the world in terms of heroes vs villains when it comes to the actions of world governments under a system where profit always trumps ideals. You can be for or against the system as you choose, but please accept the reality of decisions made under such a system if you do.

Then again, these types of reactions are not surprising considering the USA, Ukraine, and Russia are all censoring the media and making sure only the approved mainstream outlets report the "news." And guess what? Those sociopathic hags on The View seriously suggested that Tucker Carlson should be investigated and/or arrested for pointing out the above. And guess who some of the sponsors of that show happen to be? With that in mind, are you sure establishing democracy and doing the altruistic thing is what is motivating the USA, or any of the players in this war? One is in no position to morally judge the Russian invasion of Ukraine without considering the full context of why it happened. Contrary to many of us, I think the I think the reasons why these things are happening are very relevant to the discussion and all proposed solutions.