Without Russian saber-rattling, NATO would have degenerated into a ceremonial organization with no real purpose. It only would have been a matter of time until France called for its dissolution.
And what good is a bogeyman that ceases to exist?
Sweden, Finland, and the Baltics already are fully integrated into the West. What does Russia lose if Sweden and Finland join NATO? Does anyone imagine Putin really plans to invade Wilno, much less Helsinki? But nobody in Europe or the U.S. wants to spill the blood of their own countrymen to keep Ukraine from being reduced to a rump state after losing land where the residents are 85% Russian in the first place. It’s not Alsace. Putin knows this.