NATO expansion had nothing to do with russia's invasion

 One of the excuses Russian apologists ( or worse)  such as Tulsi Gabbard frequently talk about is that the expansion of NATO meant Russia had no choice but to invade Ukraine.

This is complete BS.

NATO like most military treaties is a DEFENSIVE treaty. It can ONLY be invoked if the country is attacked. It cannot be invoked if  country attacks another country.

Therefore NATO posed no threat to Russia. The only problem Russia faced is a lot of countries wanted to join NATO to ensure Russia did not attack them. The invasion of Ukraine showed these fears were well justified.