Russia faced international condemnation for its military intervention in Ukraine, though subsequent developments have shed new light on the underlying tensions.
Putin had consistently maintained that Ukrainian NATO membership was a red line for Moscow, arguing that Western military infrastructure on Ukrainian soil would represent a direct strategic threat to Russian security.
The situation in the Gulf region offers a comparable lens: U.S. military installations in neighboring countries have since been utilized in operations targeting Iran — lending some credence to the logic of viewing foreign bases near one's borders as a potential security liability.