Yuri, nails it in one! Hear, hear and well said, Yuri!
Alan B.

it seems too much of a coincidence, that as soon as Afghanistan and Syria fighting has stopped , the worlds two biggest arms dealers start another conflict, that is the Ukraine.

The conflict should have been over in a month, but Russia keeps sending small numbers of troops, and American, UK and Australia keep supplying the Ukraine with armed equipment all paid by the world bank.

Will this be another 10 year war? or will another conflict start elsewhere in which the US and their allies and Russia and China can sell their guns and bombs. All funded by the UN (world bank)

"Entitled to secure borders"

Entitlements are like rights: you have them until someone more powerful takes them off you.

Binoy views all foreign policy issues through the lens of a reflexive anti-Americanism (seriously, who else when writing about the Ukraine war would use the phrase “war criminal” only in relation to Henry Kissinger?). In doing this, he virtually ignores Russia’s role in starting the war and the necessity of Russian co-operation if, as he proposes, the solution is a negotiated compromise settlement. As Putin shows no sign whatever of being willing to do this at present, it would make no sense for Ukraine or its Western supporters to be signalling in advance of negotiations the concessions it would be willing to make. That would be a dumb negotiating tactic.

And, as the article he links to by Max Hastings explores much more intelligently, in war things don’t always work out as even smart and well-informed experts expect. Early on in the conflict many in the “ultra-realist” camp expected a swift and comprehensive Russian victory. They were wrong, and their credibility has suffered as a result. Even if a negotiated split of territory is the most likely outcome, there is still room to hope for, and work for, a comprehensive victory by the Ukraine; and to fear one by Russia.

There were no two sides that initiated this conflict, just an unprovoked attack by Russia on the sovereign territory of another!

That unprovoked attack not changed by the mistruths by the disingenuous revision of pro-Russian BS artists like AC and the couldn't lie straight in bed or a coffin, Author!

Have to use a corkscrew to get him in the latter, he's so twisted!

Yuri, called it and correctly so! No ifs buts or maybes!
Alan B.

It is a BLATANT BIG LIE endlessly repeated so many people now believe and defend that this war was provoked by the Russians. In fact, they only took action after a lot of provocations by US backed interests that were the main cause. The US want to stop any possible challenges to themselves as world superpower. For start, when communism collapsed in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, NATO should have been disbanded as the Warsaw Pact it existed to counter disappeared. However, Yanks instead broke promises to Russian Federation not to expand it eastward and has been using what has effectively become the North American Terrorist Organisation to keep the US in Europe, Russia out and Germany down. Yanks would like Ukraine in NATO, which would allow them to station Nuclear weapons much closer to Moscow. Russians regard this as unacceptable as Yanks did of Russians proposing to have them in Cuba in the "missile crisis" of 1962. Then Yanks sponsored a coup in Kiev in 2014 to replace the democratically elected government with puppets and stooges more obedient to Washington. With the largely Russian speaking Russian people of Eastern Ukraine getting treated worse by before, this resulted in action by them for independence. Quick Russian military action stopped US Navy sending in force to take over Crimea without a shot being fired. Since then, people of Donetsk and Lugansk regions have been resisting complete military takeover of their regions by the government in Kiev, which has effectively treated them as subhuman. Re the Minsk peace accords sponsored by France and Germany. former Ukrainian President Poroshenko now openly admits these agreements which they did not observe were just to buy time for a military buildup. Then when it became apparent that a full scale blitzkrieg type attack on Donetsk and Lugansk was imminent their Presidents ASKED Russia for military help. The Russian parliament then recognised these governments and authorised Vladimir Putin to initiate action.