It's all about making the war seem unavoidable. Building a common frame of reference that will then be played by media and politics to position the US on the "right side".

Do the US media talk about how the US (via NATO) is, and has been for years, provoking Russia?

If you find the above outrageous, then the media has done a fine job, and the country is ready to go to war. No need to explicitly argue in favour of it.