Germany most important? I don't get it.

When I see a claim in a report such as this which is egregiously wrong, I have to doubt the accuracy of the rest of the report.

The author wrote: " When this happened in the 1990s [ie the fall of the USSR and its empire], Russia was given firm assurances that Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia would not become part of NATO. What then happened was that each became a member of the EU and then each became a member of the NATO."

In fact, the assurances were given prior to the fall of the USSR. Russia wasn't given assurances because Russia wasn't a country then - it was a part of the USSR. The only party on the table then was East Germany and the assurance was that it, and only it, would join the EU/NATO because all other states were still under the control of the Kremlin.

Its a rather important point. When an author gets that detail wrong, it makes me want to check everything else he says. (If he opined that the sun rises in the east, I'd want verification!!).

Still the rest of the article is interesting. The notion that the expansion of the EU revolves around Berlin isn't entirely out of the question. But it only makes sense when the weakness of the US leadership is factored in. The EU/NATO still relies utterly on the US. When the US has strong clear leadership (2016-20) it calls the shots. But currently that's not the case.

It's also partly why Downing St is trying to play an outsized role in the whole issue - because of the perceived need for the west to have some sensible leadership which can't be provided by the kiddies in Washington.

I keep coming back to it, but the debacle in Kabul changed the world. The legacy media have successfully managed to memory-hole that disaster. But the capitals around the world absorbed its lessons - that the US is a paper-tiger under its current leadership - and are acting accordingly.

How to stop Putin invasion Ukraine?

Umm... its a bit late, he just shock and awed the place...
http://liveuamap.com/

But you can keep talking it up and maybe we can get the nuclear war started.

I support Russia in this, the West was the one who caused ALL THIS when it supported Ukrainian Right Sector Nazis and Sbovoda to overthrow the democratically elected President of Ukraine in the Maidan.

http://youtu.be/p2AOoE7PFJI

USA is not going to risk Russians shooting at Americans.
- And Ukraine's not a part of NATO yet.

Putin can have a good old time, and no-ones going to stop him.

- Biden needs help to wipe his own bum.

I'm glad the people of Donetsk and Luhansk are free from 8 years of terror, and hopefully an averted WWIII by keeping US nukes off of Russia's front doorstep.

This is the best chance to avoid things getting a whole lot worse in the future.

Explosives, missiles envelop Kyiv, Kharkiv.
This is just the beginning. Russians have
captured Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
And the former US President Donald Trump
has a lot to say.

He's for Putin who Trump declares made a
"genius" move by sending in the "strongest
peace force I've ever seen to the area."
"very savvy."

And this from a possible future US President?

"Bozhe, dopomozhy nam."
(God help us).

Foxy as usual misunderstands Trump - utterly misunderstands.

Saying Putin's move to send in 'peacekeepers' was smart isn't the same as supporting that move. Trump was simply pointing out that Putin had, yet again, out-smarted Biden and the whole of the swamp in Washington.

Of coarse, Biden et al should have anticipated this as one option for Putin and been prepared for it. But they weren't because Putin had out-thought and out-smarted them.

Trump pointing that out doesn't equal supporting Putin. Unfortunately people like Foxy have this very juvenile view that if you don't hate with the same vehemence as she does, then you must be a supporter. It seems to elude them that you can oppose a view or an action while at the same time recognising it as being clever.

This is why Putin would never have pulled this crap if Trump hadn't been robbed in 2020. Trump understood the rules of raw power as played by Putin. Trump would never have been out-smarted the way Biden has been. When Putin tried to pull this rubbish in Syria, Trump very much put his back in his box.

And of coarse, if the US energy revolution hadn't been throttled by Biden, if oil was still $50/barrel Putin wouldn't be in a position to do what he's doing.

Unfortunately for the world there are way too many people who don't understand any of this and that means it'll happen again.

mhaze is an avid Trump supporter folks.

The man can do no wrong in mhaze's eyes.

Hopefully his is a minority viewpoint.

What's happening in the Ukraine is horrible.
And Putin's attacks are not a "peace-keeping force"
despite what Mr Trump says and how mhaze tries to
deny those comments.