Of course they are, and they were always going to have to.

That though doesn’t mean that Ukraine should not have been supported in their resistance and that Putin should have just been allowed to walk in, as by now Russia would likely have the whole of Ukraine back in its hands, be feeling emboldened and ready for more. There has to be a heavy cost for Russia. It’s unfortunate that also means there is a heavy cost for us, but the alternative would be an even heavier cost in the future.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

Because the outcome of doing it at the start would have been completely different to that of doing it now. The dominoes would start to fall. Where do we break that fall?

Instead of having to support Ukraine, we would have faced either having to support Moldova, Georgia, Bosnia and Kosovo, or leaving them too. Then do with a weakened NATO trying to handle the threat of a Trump presidency, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia become nervous and destabilised.

Does it matter to us? Those who think we can manage perfectly well on our own don’t seem to think so. Those of us who know we cannot in today’s world think it does.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

Without all the supports yes it would be over in a heartbeat as the crook would have actually engaged in peace talks from the beginning.

But now...we have spent billions and billions and lost thousands of lives for what? An inevitable outcome.

NATO have pushed and pushed and pushed putin and Russia for years. They ignored all the warnings. And I'm sure they will think twice in the future about antagonising the Russians again.

I am aware that no 2 campaigns are the same but, just so we know your base position, after Hamas invaded Israel, do you believe Israel should have sued for peace rather than defending itself?

Yes they do have the right. The war could have been avoided however. Countless lives could have been saved. Russia gave every opportunity for peace talks.

But now all of sudden peace talks are on the table....

I'm hearing that there will be a presidential election in Ukraine next year on the 31st of March....if that's true it certainly marks a departure of what we were being told about the Ukrainian constitution....but there you go.....Seems someone wants a change of leadership perhaps.

Zelensky was just recently interviewed, said he isn't interested in peace negotiations, called Putin a terrorist and so on and so forth.

So while unfortunately peace negotiations weren't looking likely anyway it looks like unless Ukraine or Russia change leadership this war is set for at least another six months.

Though personally I think we have nearer a year or more to go.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)