That's exactly the root of the problem. And instead of acknowledging that fact and treating Russia with some diplomatic respect, NATO has blatantly disregarded what Russia, not just Putin, considered to be red lines and pushed them around until, in 2008, Putin proved that he wasn't going to be pushed around. The US doubled down in 2014 with the coup in Ukraine and Putin answered in kind. And despite all that the West has done very little to either disengage itself economically from Russia or attempt to mend the bridges it burned. It was pure insanity and it has led us to where we are now.