Thus, when Russia did invade, U.S. and European officials and the U.S. mainstream press cried, “Aggression! Aggression!” And they were right from a legal standpoint. Russia had no legal right to invade Ukraine, and Ukraine had the legal right to join NATO.
And that’s where the debate should end.
Laws exist explicitly in order to clarify situations, because without laws, things fall into a hopeless mire of subjectivity and all too often end up being settled through a competition to see who’s the most convincing liar or the most viscious thug, neither one of which is a quality that should be rewarded.
Ukraine has every right to join NATO and Russia has no right to invade Ukraine. The end.
Everyone has right to point nuclear missiles at the US in Cuba and Canada, then. If there are assholes, there will be countries threatened by assholes and forced to react.