Ukraine has nothing to do with NATO. If Poland were attacked, then there’d be something to discuss. As an American taxpayer, Ukraine is none of my business. Was Ukraine sending troops to help find Bin Laden when the U.S. was attacked? What strategic value does Ukraine have for the U.S.? Very little. It wasn’t like they were letting us put airbases or missile defense systems in their country. If Russia attacked Finland, Ukraine wouldn’t have done anything.
Its strategic value is exactly as described: a buffer state. It gives us months, if not years, of warning and can potentially totally rebuff an aggressive Russian state.
To be confused about this at this point reveals either profound ignorance or extreme motivated reasoning.