As I'm just reading a book about NATO and Russia? This all makes sense to me.
Mr Heuston is correct in his assessment.
Germany is paying Russia for their energy needs and most of the countries do not pay their percentage of money due and the U.S. had been picking up the bill for years!
I really don't think that NATO would mobilize forces should Russia decide to take back the Baltic states. With the exception of Poland, the other countries would just sit back and watch and that's what Russia is looking forward too.
It's time for the other nations to pay their 2% and rise to 4% equally. We've bailed out Europe way too many times for no appreciation nor repayment of funds. That money needs to stay here where it belongs!