It's time to bump back the this thread to the top of the page. I put this here because it is very much related to the war.
https://invidious.protokolla.fi/watch?v=KJk96n7IOLw
https://youtube.com/watch?v=KJk96n7IOLw
Roman says at 6:53:
> my whole point here is that if Russia was to take a slightly different route at a certain point in its existence, and actually tried to build, you know, friendly ties with Europe and the West and whatnot, I think it would be pretty plausible that, by now Russians probably have visa free travel in the European Union, and once again the regular people would be just living a more safe, less stressful, more affluent life, that they deserve
Essentially putting the blame on Russia, well on Russian leaders that why weren't they more friendlier with the West. In previous videos he mentions Putin getting close to NATO, to the point that the idea Russian membership could be floated to the public.
I think he forgets that relations are two sided. You can be as friendly as possible, but the other side still remain a military alliance that was formed against you. NATO was created against the Soviet Union, and after the fall of the SU, an enemy is still needed to justify its existence. The NATO cannot be an anti-China organization, for all the fugging countries in it has no fear that China just roll over and annex them. NATO is basically Europe, Turkey and USA. A whole fucking continent is between them, in military sense only East and South East Asia has anything to fear from China, and even them not that much. Russia is the only viable option as a boogeyman for NATO.
There was never a chance for Russia to be best buddies with the West.
Now this isn't his main point in this video, but this is a weak point in his reasoning in general.