I’ve read Mearsheimer’s work and his analysis is very flawed. He basis his work on a presumption that superpowers or those countries with nuclear weapons have the right to interfere in the relations of sovereign nations. He makes hypocritical arguments that both simultaneously condemn the US for what he perceives as these interferences while simultaneously using this same argument to excuse much more blatant and hostile and violet actions by Russia.
The crux of this type of argument is that it is irrelevant the wishes of neither Russia or the US matter.
Ukraine is a sovereign nation and its people have the right to determine which countries they wish to associate with. Full Stop.