Well I'll put my hand up shadowminister.
Based on your criteria I'm officially a moron.
- Because I'm definitely not deliberately lying.

On the other hand, I may just be someone who doesn't follow a herd mentality and doesn't give a crap what others think.
I look at all the info that's available to me and I form my own conclusions.
Also, I reserve the right to change my opinion if more information comes to light.
I don't like this war or innocent people dying anymore than anyone else.

But I've stated it time and time again,
I don't support sanctions, I think its collective punishment against entire nations,
And I don't support US overthrows as it suits its own interests.

AC,

I'm glad we cleared that up. You don't follow the herd but rely on propaganda and conspiracy theories.

As for sanctions, the point is to degrade the Russian economy, especially the ability of the Russians to rebuild its military and is the alternative to the west getting involved directly.

The date of May the 9th is being watched in case Putin decides to actually declare war on Ukraine.

shadowminister

NATO, led by the US, has relentlessly and aggressively threatened and contained Russia. It has deliberately set about recruiting former Soviet nations to join its ranks ... Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus being the last target countries to complete its military encirclement of Russia’s Western border. It has surrounded Russia with multiple military bases ... one in Poland 150 kilometres from the Russian border. Its claim of being purely defensive is a sham ... it has offensively and brutally bombed Yugoslavia and Libya. NATO's real purpose is to destabilise and weaken Russia.

What alliance has the right to gain its strength through threatening and containing a sovereign nation living in peace and posing no threat? Imagine an alliance attempting to contain the US in this manner. America wouldn't stand for it, yet it expects Russia to accept military containment as a perfectly benign and non-threatening situation. It’s total rubbish and the whole world knows it, even though the Western minority will never admit it.

Russia’s reintegration of Crimea was never an ‘unprovoked invasion’. Russian troops were already stationed inside Crimea in a legitimate peace-keeping capacity. Crimea voted independently and overwhelmingly to rejoin Russia. There was no invasion or forced annexation.

The fighting in the Donbass was not instigated by Russia. The majority of the population there resisted the insistence of the US-imposed government in Kiev in 2014 that the Russian language and the region’s longstanding ties to Russia were to be extinguished. Ukrainian forces moved into the area and began killing its citizens. Russia stayed out of the conflict until Kiev increased its shelling of the region on the 16th February. Russia’s move across the border was not an ‘unprovoked invasion’ It was a last-ditch effort to defend the Russian citizens of Donbass.

Since the days of Gorbachev, Russia has never shown any threat of expansionism. It has only ever wanted to live in peace with the rest of Europe. It even asked to join NATO, but its every diplomatic overture was always rejected. The US needs an enemy. It has used NATO to reestablish Cold War with Russia.

Bronwyn,

I have not heard any threats made against Russia by Nato, Europe or the US. Russia has made repeated threats to use nuclear weapons against other nations, e.g.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a39879099/russian-state-tv-threatens-to-annihilate-the-uk-with-1600-foot-tall-nuclear-tsunamis/

It has also made threats against other countries providing military aid to Ukraine. The heavy weaponry has finally reached the east and is being used with great effect by troops in the Kharkiv area. The Russian army could find the supply lines to its Izyum advance cut off. This could leave 20,000 Russian troops stranded. The performance of the Russian army in this war has been terrible. They have only excelled in brutality and murder.

Fester

<< I have not heard any threats made against Russia by Nato, Europe or the US. >>

They don't voice their threats. The threat is NATO itself and the way it's expanded eastward right up to Russia's borders. Aren’t you capable of putting yourself in Russia’s shoes? Can’t you imagine how it must feel to have your neighbours one by one join a military alliance which sits along your borders and opens its arms to all except yourself? My guess is you’re one of the edgy Australians who feels threatened by China’s recent investment agreement with the Solomon Islands? Well, let me tell you, this level of threat is absolutely nothing compared to what Russia has been forced to live with.

<< Russia has made repeated threats to use nuclear weapons against other nations >>

Russia is reminding the West of the MAD doctrine … that of Mutual Assured Destruction. It does not want the West to exacerbate and prolong the conflict. Russia is trying to bring Ukraine to the negotiating table as quickly as possible. Ukraine could end the fighting tomorrow if only it would promise never to join NATO and to honour the Minsk Accord. Russia does not want to occupy Ukraine. It simply wishes to end the threat Ukraine’s entry into NATO would mean for Russia’s security. And to ensure the safety of Russian citizens living in Ukraine. These are perfectly reasonable requests and Russia should never have had to resort to military action in order to have itself listened to.

<< It has also made threats against other countries providing military aid to Ukraine. >>

The military aid flooding into Ukraine is just adding to the death and destruction. It is madness to be so indiscriminately arming citizens and turning them into enemy combatants. Once armed, they immediately become legitimate military targets. Russia has tried all along to create evacuation corridors and to minimise civilian casualties. The West’s weaponising of the population is just putting more and more people in harm’s way. This is why Russia wants it to stop.