A very well informed perspective from Emma.

I agree with all the calumny heaped on the head of Putin. It's well earned. However, his threat to resort to nuclear weapons if the US or NATO gets directly involved with Ukraine. Putin has thus made it a war between Russia and Ukraine only. What he didn't expect was the resoluteness of Zelensky and the stiff resistance of the Ukrainian people. In my opinion, the race is between Ukrainians suffering massive casualties and Russia suffering massively from sanctions. Either way, I think the war will be settled with sooner or later with Ukraine as a non-aligned (think Finland) nation and Russia as an international pariah. At least until the sanctions loosen, as they did after Crimea.

I am greatly dismayed that we have allowed Russia to flatten so much of Ukraine! Clearly Russia cannot be trusted. Ukraine should be fully supported by the free world until they win the war and push Russia out. Sanctions should be escalated until Russia is on it's knees. Ukraine should immediately be allowed into NATO and the EU to cement a lasting peace in the area. This must be done while Russia is still reeling from the effect of the sanctions. None of Russia's demands should be considered. I repeat, Russia clearly cannot be trusted, so only the overwhelming power of NATO and the US combined can ensure the future of Ukraine. Giving in to any of Russia's demands ensures a future of continuing battles with Russia.

How does abandoning Ukraine play out in the US. Does it encourage authoritarianism and suppress democracy? Isn't loyalty to the US government hurt and provide bad optics.

How does abandoning Ukraine play out in the US. Does it encourage authoritarianism and suppress democracy? Isn't loyalty to the US government hurt and provide bad optics.

What sympathies Emma? The great sacrificial lamb, Ukraine.

He will continue his cyber threats to encourage the rise of authoritarian groups to erode democracy for the inside of Europe.

He's a bully he won't stop unless he's stopped.
He can always wave his big nuclear threat to get whatever he wants.

what about the agreement in the past Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons for protection of it's borders

Chechnya, Syria, Georgia, He won't stop he's on a roll.

What about Moral committment to democratic government.

All war is terrible… but this war is worse than most because it was completely predictable, and as such, completely avoidable.

Russia has warned for decades, most emphatically since the US-backed coup in 2014, that further incitement by the West would invite an invasion. Our government encouraging NATO membership for Ukraine last December was exactly that incitement. We got what we asked for.

Zelensky has said that he fears the loss of his country… the Ukrainian people lost their country a long time ago, just as we are losing ours to the puppet masters of the World Economic Forum, what whispering conspiracy theorists used to refer to as the One World Order.

It may not be the silver bullet that will cure all that ails us, but mandatory term limits for all elected federal officials would be one giant step in the right direction.

And drastic changes in the terms and conditions of all federal employee union contracts would also go a long way toward clearing out our institutional government, the “deep state” that those same derided conspiracy theorists speak of. We will never drain the swamp if we only skim away the scum at the top and continue to ignore the sludge that has sunk to the bottom.

Putin has told us who he is - he wants to reconstitute Russia's past glory, as a world power. He has neglected Russia's future, and has done nothing to empower Russia through its people: the country's GDP trails Spain, which is a fraction of the size; it produces nothing, and relies on 20th century natural resources; and the young people have little hope for a better future..