Neville Chamberlain takes all the blame but people need to remember that the UK and France were democracies and that another war with Germany was wholly unpopular. Sure, we have the benefit of hindsight and knowing that France could have entirely destroyed the German state had they invaded while Germany was busy invading Poland... But the world doesn't work that way. A more aggressive posture from Chamberlain at the time likely would have just resulted in him being forced to resign.

As you rightfully point to the Treaty of Versailles as in many ways creating a scenario that would inevitably lead to a second war, have to understand that Russians feel the same way about the break up of the Soviet Union.

Recall the first world war, and the infamous Treaty of Brest Litovsk that ended the Russian Empires participation in the war. I think people forget that unlike in WW2, in the Great War Germany actually won on the eastern front and forced Russian surrender. This treaty would have deprived the Russian Empire of Finland, the Baltic States, and Ukraine.. This was seen as so cruel and intolerable that the Western Allies reversed it at the end of the war.

Now, compare the European territory lost in the Treaty of Brest Litovsk to the European territory lost in the Breakup of Soviet Union and you start to understand the Russian perspective. Territory that the entire world once understood to be Russian and allowed to remain so despite German conquest, less than 80 years later, a single lifetime, the world now acts like that territory should have never been Russian to begin with..

To be clear I'm not suggesting Russia should reconquer Soviet states, even if she were militarily capable of that. My point is only that a basis for an honest peace with Russia would be better if the West used Putins own logic against him rather than negotiate from a position of idealism.

While there might be a semblance of truth to Putins claim that the end of WW2/USSR left the world with historically anachronistic borders, it would be good to remind him that Russia benefited from that as well, namely Kaliningrad in Europe and the Kuril/Sakhalin island of Japan. The cession of those territories should be the first thing in any deal to recognize Crimea.

And for the record, this resulting agreement that military conquest is still a viable strategy against countries not in NATO is simply the status quo since NATOs inception. Changes nothing