NATO membership isn't being prioritized for them. As a sovereign state, they are eligible to apply for it without any coercion or intimidation to prevent them from handling their own affairs by their neighbor.
If you're interested in the bigger picture then you should consider why Putin doesn't want a strong and stable democratic state populated with considerable Russian speakers right on his own border - he is after all an authoritarian strong man who suppresses democracy in Russia to preserve his own life, because he knows a Russian population who see freedom in Ukraine will want the same for themselves; something that would lead to him being overthrown and probably killed in the process.
The bits about defense contractors is also not accurate. Unlike China and Russia, who have the luxury of nationalizing their respective defense industrial bases, the US as a capitalist nation doesn't have such a luxury and must instead rely on the private companies within the US to help generate the military hardware needed to be prepared for potential conflicts. Its therefore simply capitalism 101 that the US creates contracts with companies to supply them with what is needed.
