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Notes -
I was going to make snide a comment to the effect of tell me that you don't know anything about the history of NATO with out actually using those words, but then I had a sobering realization that our education systems is so fucked that you might genuinely have never learned anything about WWII and it's immediate aftermath.
Simply put there are multiple very obvious reasons both historical and strategically practical for NATO to invest in a free Ukraine.
The obvious historical reason is to uphold the post WWI norm that "you don't get to arbitrarily invade you neighbors and claim their territory as your own if you want a seat at the adults' table". Enforcing this norm is arguably NATOs entire raison d'etre as it was founded in response to fears in the immediate aftermath of WWII that the Molotov half of the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact might try to pick up where their erstwhile allies had started. Stalin's rhetoric and behavior certainly painted him as keen to do so.
The other obvious reason is one of strategic practicality. Every Russian soldier killed, every aircraft shot down, every armored vehicle destroyed, every round of ordnance expended, is one that can no longer be used to threaten the Balkans. What's happening here is that NATO is spending what is effectively pocket change to see a major strategic threat seriously diminished if not eliminated entirely. I don't care who you are, that is the proverbial 100 dollar bill lying on the sidewalk and the NATO leadership would be fools not to take it. Meanwhile there's the economic factor, for all people complain about the Military Industrial Complex, the cold truth is that money talks, and that there is a lot of money to be made in war. My employer recently opened a new ordnance production facility (rather than closing an old one) for what may be the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall, that's a couple thousand new jobs for some politician's constituents, do you really think that's not been factored into the calculus somewhere?
Edited to Elaborate
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