It is a question that no one could answer, however we can draw our own conclusions, after all, it would be good to analyze a little and project the possible destination.

In order to give an opinion, you have to remember facts of history:

In 1945, the Soviet Union occupied the territories that were once taken away by the Germans, became part of Russia. NATO was formed in 1949 made up of the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and France, then more countries were integrated, currently, in 2022 it is made up of 30 countries; This alliance aims to defend each other from some Russian threat (If you mess with one, you mess with all). Then Russia and its allies responded to NATO by forming the Warsaw Pact in 1955, but after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it disappeared.

Russia has been observing that NATO has been expanding, including countries that had promised Russia not to ally with NATO. In 2004, all the nations that were part of the Warsaw Pact (except Russia) belonged to NATO or the European Union.

This is worrying for Putin, any country that joins NATO can have military bases of the United States, the eternal enemy of Russia and that currently, is a few hundred kilometers from Moscow.

In 2014, Russia annexed to the Crimean Peninsula, took over the port of Sevastopol that would be an achievement for Russia because it did not have large warm water ports.

When the Soviet Union disappeared, 15 countries went on the air, leaving some whose economy is linked to that of Russia and would be said the eastern part of Ukraine, others that had their independent economy as the western part of Ukraine (they produced their own energy, gas, etc.) and those that would be part of NATO or the European Union.

Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, which would like to join NATO and the European Union, but have been kept out because of their proximity to Russia, so if any of these countries or Ukraine join NATO, it would be a war for Russia. Ukraine's accession to NATO is a red line that it is not willing to let them cross. The United States has not sent troops to Ukraine to back them because Ukraine is not a member of NATO, but if it is a partner, a guarantee that could be joined in the future. Looking at it from this point of view, it is difficult to know if there will be a more extensive war, we do not know which side Ukraine will play on, although the tension that Russia puts on, are making the other nations believe that Ukraine should join NATO or the European Union. This would be fatal for Russia.

There is also another way to interpret it, they are all for some interest. Ukraine is a state of many riches, so we can see another point: How important is Ukraine?

• 1st in Europe in proven recoverable reserves of uranium ores
• 2nd place in Europe and 10th place in the world in terms of titanium ore reserves
• 7th largest iron ore reserves in the world (30 billion tonnes)
• 1st in Europe in terms of arable land area
• 3rd place in the world by black soil area (25% of world volume)
• 1st place in the world in exports of sunflower and sunflower oil
• 2nd place in the world in barley production and 4th place in barley exports
• 3rd largest producer and 4th largest exporter of corn in the world
• 4th largest potato producer in the world
• 5th largest rye producer in the world
• 5th place in the world in bee honey production (75,000 tons)
• 8th place in the world in wheat exports
• 9th place in the world in the production of chicken eggs
• 16th place in the world in cheese exports
• 1st in Europe in ammonia production
• The second largest natural gas pipeline system in Europe and the fourth largest in the world
• 3rd largest in Europe and eighth largest in the world in terms of installed capacity of nuclear power plants
• 3rd place in Europe and 11th in the world in terms of railway network length (21,700 km)
• 3rd place in the world (after USA and France) in production of locators and localization equipment
• 3rd largest iron exporter in the world
• 4th largest exporter of turbines for nuclear power plants in the world
• 4th largest manufacturer of rocket launchers in the world
• 4th place in the world in clay exports
• 4th place in the world in titanium exports
• 8th place in the world in exports of minerals and concentrates
• 9th place in the world in exports of defense industry products
• 10th largest steel producer in the world (32.4 million tons)

With all these riches that would be interests for any country, it could be the reason for a war, even more, if it is both cases as presented with Ukraine and Russia. From my point of view, I could say that NATO is very expanded, it could be closer to war than ever, we must be cautious, however, Russia has threatened the use of nuclear weapons, exposing that the president of the United States is aware of it, I do not think that a great power will be intimidated and this may bring the third world war.

Greetings, I hope that my information has served a little to understand this matter, remember that we do not know what really happens, we will not know what is in the background, however, with a little research, we can analyze the matter a little.