"Unfortunately, I can believe that a western power would deliberately attack Russia, but that would be sudden and total."
Before that happens there would be a lot of maneuvering, jabs, feinting and offers and conferences. Beware the "peace talks", the more "peace talks" are discussed, the closer they are to actual war.
Plus, importantly they have to condition the public to war, possibly nuclear war and that's no easy task.
At some point "something" will happen and the US will really start to pour in the troops.