You think that the Minsk agreement was a “fail safe” measure to avoid war. Wrong! The Minsk agreement was an “agreement” drafted by Putin with nothing but pro-Russian demands.
You think that without US and NATO aid that the Ukraine would not have defended themselves against the Russian savages. Wrong. The Ukrainians would be waging a guerrilla war. The aid keeps the war at a stalemate…fact. And the war effectively started in 2014 when Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula.
You mentioned that Russia doesn’t conscript. Wrong. They’ve conscripted convicts and regular citizens on a regular basis. They’ve also welcomed foreign fighters because they’re short on manpower.