Putin has been trying to create preconditions for NATO collapse for two decades — ISW

This is reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

It noted that on December 17, Putin said that Russia had no "territorial disputes" with NATO countries to disguise his actual long-standing goal of weakening Western unity and forcing NATO to abandon its key principles, such as the "open door policy", which allows the alliance to accept new members at its discretion and is enshrined in the NATO Charter.

Putin has consistently pursued this goal throughout his rule and demonstrated his full commitment to it by ordering the Russian Foreign Ministry in December 2021 to issue ultimatums to the United States and NATO, demanding, among other things, "security guarantees" from NATO and commitments not to expand.

Putin's decade-long goal is to create conditions under which NATO will undermine its own global power by creating a structurally and ideologically defeated Alliance that will not be able to withstand Russia's future goals - which could include territorial conquests or the establishment of Russian suzerainty over states that Moscow considers to be within its proper sphere of control. 

According to the ISW, the growing disagreements between the US and Europe, as well as within NATO and other Western structures, will weaken the West's collective response to the Kremlin's aggressive behavior and allow Putin to create a new network of coalitions to support Russian goals. 

Putin regularly reiterates his dislike of Western alliances, calling for a multipolar world order in which Russia would have veto power over key world events.

Putin wants NATO to recognize Russia's claims, demands, and spheres of influence, and has repeatedly indicated Russia's intention to end "US hegemony."

• On Sunday, December 17, Vladimir Putin called the words of US President Joe Biden that Russia would attack a NATO country if it won the war with Ukraine "complete nonsense," adding that Russia is not interested in this.