Not correct. Putin warned of Ukraine's NATO status in a speech in December 2021 - a speech that was roundly ignored.

But that was only part of the reason: the other reason was that ethnic Russians were getting SLAUGHTERED in the Donbas.

The West knew this was all happening in 2014. And worse yet - THEY DID NOTHING. Consumed by their own Russophobia, they were happy to have Western Catholic Ukrainians kill Russian speakers.

Here is another excerpt from a New York Times article in 2014:

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/world/europe/ukraine.html?ref=world&_r=0

"Despite growing jitters in the West, Ukraine’s military leaders say they are making a well-calculated gamble, betting that Mr. Putin feels he has too much to lose to invade, including the possibility of crippling international sanctions. So while Western officials view each new Ukrainian artillery barrage in Donetsk as drawing the country closer to the brink, the Ukrainians see their unchecked advance as further confirmation that Mr. Putin is mobilizing troops only as a scare tactic to keep them from reclaiming territory."

This is why every Western politician, every Western media outlet, every Western pundit and celebrity must always insert the word “unprovoked” when talking about Russia’s invasion. They need to do this, they need to make The Big Lie as big as possible, because the more times you tell a lie, the more people believe it.

As you can see even from the NY Times (which always cheerleads for war), “Western officials” knew that Ukraine’s slaughter of ethnic Russians in the Donbas was “drawing the country closer to the brink”.

They did nothing, because THEY WANTED THE WAR.