Russia annexed Crimea and fought an 8-year long proxy war to prevent Ukraine to joining NATO, but that didn't deter Ukraine or NATO. This current direct Russian involvement is an expansion of the war to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO (again). So therefore, to prevent future NATO aspirations, Russia should just end the Zelenskiy regime right now. There should be no reason why Russia needs another "NEXT WAR" to achieve the objectives it set out today, you are repeating the same mistake again expected a different outcome. Just end the regime to have a permanent long-term solution.