I think it's unfair to say NATO's response has been slow/inadequate. Countries will try to avoid all out war with an aggressor nation for as long as possible, because nobody in their right mind wants to go to war. And, yes, we saw in the run up to WW2, that the world collectively hung several nations out to dry in an attempt to avoid the inevitable - or at least try to buy time to beef up their militaries.
We all know that the UK government, currently complaining that there isn't enough money to pay train drivers or nurses, will suddenly find billions of pounds for weapons' systems if we find the country thrust into a conventional WW3. Hell, those Tory nutjobs will probably jump at the chance of a war, as it will force all the strike action onto the back burner, or allow them to enable draconian anti-strike laws that put strikers on a par with collaborators and traitors.
But to get back to Ukraine, I've always said that the longer this dragged on the greater the chance other countries would get pulled into it. It's pretty much inevitable. The only question is what form will the escalation take?
