It's not a ruse. IMO Russia had two options. Allow NATO membership for Ukraine or invade them. I velieve if Putin would have allowed Ukraine to join NATO he would have had an accident qnd someone else would have ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
False Dichotomy. There were no plans of Ukraine joining NATO before the war. Even if there were diplomatic avenues would have been available to Russia.
But why would a nuclear power fall for such a ruse