Great: Yes, of course we helped sink Russia’s Black Sea flagship, U.S. officials admit

I can’t believe I have to ask this but here it is: Are we trying to get Putin to attack NATO?

Is there some strategic benefit I’m missing to turning this into a hot war between the U.S. and Russia? Like, “the war will end much faster and with fewer casualties if we let the U.S. Air Force bomb Russian troops in the Donbas for a week”?