Judging and weighting what the likely outcome is of either bloc coming out on top of this conflict shouldnt just be confined into what happens with Ukraine within Ukraine it has much greater geopolitical and material ramifications all over the world. Also Ukraine being within Russias sphere of “influence” and militarily neutral was the more stable post 90s status quo that was unilateraly breached by western coups ,expansion and aggression and that didnt translate to the huge fascist-ification of the Ukrainian state so it does make a difference both for Russian and Ukrainian masses if its a US protectorat or if its forced to return into being a military toothless buffer state