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They didn't say they were going to send troops. They said they're going to give Ukraine everything it needs to win though, and press 'the case against Russia' and so on. Politico article on the visit. Video of the speech
I believe the plan was something like a fork in chess - give aid and support to Ukraine so it crushes the rebels and thus also wrecks Putin's domestic support and international prestige, or force Russians to intervene in which case you can paint them as a horrible danger to Europe and impose more sanctions and wreck European trade with Russia, which directly benefits you as they're forced to buy more from Canada and the US. Whatever reaction Russia does, it loses. Pretty basic plan but it can't help but work.
You are right. Almost no one did, but people in Ukrainian politics thought US would take even bigger risks. Check the image. And perhaps also the video of Arestovych talking about the situation.
[Here's a video from 2019 of then presidential advisor Arestovich] explaining the situation as he sees it, and casually stunning the interviewer with frankly speaking about a large-scale war with Russia. I don't really fault much of the analysis, except for the bit saying that a "major war" is a price worth paying for not being in a Russian led union. The fate of Bulgaria isn't one to envy, and that's what'd have awaited Ukraine, at best.. Fodder to keep the population shredder of the EU going for a bit longer. Why would anyone stay in a corrupt & poor state riddled with political strife when they can move abroad easily ?
It's funny how it neatly ties all it together. He says that NATO members weren't certain about taking in Ukraine - but Skripal affair, the airliner shootdown, coup in Montenegro and Syria made it clear they have to oppose Russia by accepting Ukraine.
Skripal affair was, to a 99.99% probability, a psyop done by someone in the British state. There's no other explanation for the utterly unlikely presence of one Britain's highest ranking military medical officers on the scene. It was really weird and poisoning a guy you exchanged who wasn't even very nasty doesn't make sense.
The airliner shootdown might have been malicious, in the sense that Ukrainians did not close their airspace over the area after losing a big jet to a SAM missile. Whether that was deliberate or incompetence is unclear. And as to Syria and the refugee wave caused by the war Americans supported and possibly caused, and in which they supported Al-Qaeda and allegedly also ISIS.
Grand strategy is a pretty nasty affair, the stakes are basically infinite so it's of course going to be absurd.
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