They believe that Ukraine, as a sovereign and independent country, has the right to join any organization, even a military organization, and claims that NATO's eastward expansion is justified and does not violate any international law.
NATO's eastward expansion is a product of the post-Cold War period, and if they are committed to European unity, economic construction and national security defense like the European Union (in fact, the European Union is not committed to these), but NATO is the expansion of military groups, the expansion of ideology, the expansion of hegemony, the expansion of religion and nationalism, which poses a threat not only to Russia, but also to other countries and regions, and to worsen the international environment.
NATO's eastward expansion path
Today everyone condemns Russia's so-called "invasion" of Ukraine, but they have not considered Russia's feelings at all, NATO's existence itself is aimed at Russia, there is a great deterrent to Russia, so in the past in order to cope with NATO's eastward expansion, Russia has frequently changed leaders, adjusted foreign policy, and sought a way out for national security and economic development.
"Do not persuade people to be generous without suffering from others", this sentence can be fully applied to Russia, and the encirclement situation formed by NATO's eastward expansion on Russia is realistic, which will affect not only Russia's traditional interests, but also Russia's future interests.
We put ourselves in the shoes of Ukraine today and imagine that If Ukraine succeeds in joining NATO today, and one day NATO expands eastward to Kazakhstan, how should China respond? If it is legal to advocate NATO's eastward expansion today, then what is the rationality of our response to NATO's eastward expansion in the future?
In fact, some scholars have also proposed that NATO's eastward expansion not only oppresses Russia, but also worsens China's overall international environment, and it is not impossible to expand to China's borders in the future, but at that time, NATO and the US-Japan defense system were linked together, and the strategic encirclement posture of the United States against China was promoted and strengthened.
It can be said that if Russia resists NATO expansion today, and China supports Russia when it needs it most (that is, at the moment), then its positive significance is to consolidate China's position in the world pattern.
In addition, those countries that have joined NATO will be more Westernized in their ideology, and in order to highlight their assimilation with Western countries, and even to show their loyalty to Western countries, they will follow the pace of Western countries on the so-called human rights or Xinjiang issues.
Therefore, there is no need to condemn Or criticize Russia's legitimacy today on the issue of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in fact, it is enough for us to remain neutral and first look at it objectively from the standpoint of right and wrong.