I saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas Day in the morning

@ElwoodBlues Have you heard of self-defense? It is a very old concept, a natural right. We all know what it is to defend ourselves. Treaties do not mean anything if you are under attack. They go out of the window if your country and people are under threat. Putin says the Russians in eastern Ukraine are under threat, and this war is to protect them. You can disagree with his reasoning if you want; there is no way for you to disprove him. It is his view; he is president of Russia, and the determination has been made.

@SW-User Hi Emiliya ... We haven't met before that I know of, but I'm glad you brought up this point. Russia has claimed often that it's brutal & illegal invasion of it's sovereign neighbor is justified because it (Russia) is "defending" ethnic Russians in Ukraine.

This is an interesting concept. Nowhere in international law is there such a concept. Does Spain have the right to police the treatment of every Spanish-speaking person in the world? Does China have the right to invade neighbors to protect the rights of Mandarin or Cantonese speakers?

The concept of self defense in international law has to do with territory, not with the diaspora of any ethnic group. If Russia could point to an area of it's border that was violated prior to Russia's 2014 invasion of Ukraine, then self defense could be claimed and a proportional response could be justified.

No such border has ever been claimed so no claim of self defense is valid.

@sarabee1995 Hitter made the same bogus claim to justify his initial invasions.

@sarabee1995 What happens when diplomacy fails?

You can say “sovereign Ukraine” all you like, but it does not change the fact it is Russia's neighbor and is Russian speaking in the east. Its sovereignty is undermined by being exploited by the Americans too. How can it be sovereign when it has become an American project? Do sovereign countries allow other nations to decide what leadership they have? Do they allow their leaders to get ousted? Would US let Ukraine have a neutral leader, or pro Russian leader? They stopped allowing this in 2014, and that was when the war in Donbas began. Newsflash: the war would not have happened had you not interfered!

International law is pointless. Almost all countries engaged in war will break international law. US, UK, Israel, Russia have all broken international law, but agreements are not being violated if a leader can say their country or peoples are under threat. The Budapest Memorandum means nothing if Russians are under threat in eastern Ukraine, and NATO is expanding and placing itself on Russia's doorstep. Putin has warned for years that NATO expansion is a threat to Russian security. Are you going to tell me you think Putin would have sent the Russian army into Ukraine were it not for NATO expansion and continued western interference? If the West stopped messing with Ukraine, Russia would pull out of Ukraine. Your government has instigated this war. It is a proxy conflict created by US, and it can be stopped by US. You need to keep out of other countries and leave Ukraine and the rest of the world ALONE.

@SW-User says @SW-User says It's very sad you can't see the contradiction between these two assertions of yours.

Absolutely!! It was a grab for territory; naked ambition for power, nothing more!!

Remember when Putin first launched the attack on Ukraine and said it was to protect against Nazis? Why haven't we seen or heard about these Nazis? Oh, it's because Putin is trying out a different excuse now! People stopped falling for the Nazi excuse, now it's a NATO excuse LOL!!!

Putin wanted Russia to join NATO back in 2000.
Here's a map of NATO members and when they joined. The major eastward expansion actually happened in 2004.

Putin achieved what the West couldn't! Putin convinced Finland & Sweden to join NATO!!

Now Russia has a MUCH larger border with NATO nations!! Ooops!! The NATO excuse doesn't work either!!!

@ElwoodBlues Why do you think Nazis and NATO aren't the reasons? It begins with Western interference in Ukraine and Russia. Putin believes Russians are being mistreated in Ukraine, hence “Nazis.” The Russian language is being eliminated in Ukraine. In eastern Ukraine, the Russian language is commonly spoken, but the politicians want to get rid of it. Putin believes violence has been committed against Russian speakers. The domestic issue, the Nazi issue, is a reason for the conflict. Western interference is another reason. We can see the 2004 and 2014 ousting of Viktor Yanukovych as ways the West has interfered. It would like to do the same in Russia. If Putin let them get away with it, they would change leadership in Russia and exploit Russia in the way they seek to exploit Ukraine. The West would like a weak and submissive Russia, a Russia that is not independent and a Russia that does as it is told.

Were you aware that wars happen for more than one reason? Domestic issues and foreign interferences are most often the cause of wars. I know you are an engineer, but it would be beneficial for you to acquaint yourself with history. Science is not enough to teach you about the ways of the world. A one-trick pony with a strange-looking profile picture you are; an expert on politics and history you are not.

@SW-User wonders Because bombing hospitals and schools doesn't have any effect on Nazis. Because when Putin's war-crime invasion bogged down, he stopped talking about Nazis.

And, as I demonstrated with the map, Putin's war-crime invasion INCREASED the length of his NATO borders.

Putin achieved what the West couldn't! Putin convinced Finland & Sweden to join NATO!!

Now Russia has a MUCH larger border with NATO nations!! Oops!! The NATO excuse doesn't work either!!!

@ElwoodBlues the NATO border with russia more than doubled!
If the russians think the Ukrainians are fighting back hard, they really don't want to try the Finns

@ElwoodBlues The Americans, British, French, and Russians during WWII thought it had an effect on Nazis. They bombed people and burned them. Innocent Germans were treated like criminals and slaughtered.

“Because when Putin's war-crime invasion bogged down, he stopped talking about Nazis.”

When did this happen? Putin has eastern Ukraine, and Eastern Ukraine is his concern. Eastern Ukraine is where the Russian speakers are, and Putin has it now. Since 2022, he took more land in the east, not less. If he is trying to stop Nazis in the east, it is going very well.

Your claim Putin has stopped talking about the Nazis is wrong. On December 28th 2024 he signed a decree “approving a new strategy for combating extremism.” You only read the liberal western media outlets and since 2014 they avoid talking about the Ukrainian Nazis. Prior to 2014, they talked about them and Ukraine had a poor image. This is what happens when agenda changes.

NATO has further encroached on Russia's borders, so the justification of war has become further legitimized. The more NATO expands into the east, on Russia's borders, the greater the threat to Russia. If the threat is great, Russia can say it is defending itself. The way to stop war is for the West to stop interfering with the east. We can see Europe is getting frustrated with the lack of gas and are becoming amenable to Russia. They need gas to survive. Trump will be in power in two weeks and he wants a peace settlement. Meanwhile, you and the likes of newjanine continue to live in the world of the deluded.

@SW-User In your WWII analogy, the Russians are playing the role of the Nazis.

In WWII the Nazis invaded France & other countries and by treaty the Allies were called upon to help repel the invasion. In this current case, Russia is the invader and allies again are called upon to repel the invader.

Invaders get repelled. It ain't rocket science.

@ElwoodBlues US is trying to invade Russia and Ukraine by interfering in our politics and installing governments they want. Countries and peoples are assaulting one another all over. Do you know how you stop invading? You leave other countries alone. If you leave them alone, they will not need to resort to defensive actions and fight for their survival.

@SW-User russia - always playing the victim.

Always.

Ten years of aggression against Ukraine - because russia is a victim.

Bucha. Lyman. Mariupol - because russia is a victim

Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children stolen and given away to russian families like presents - because russia is a victim

Missiles targeting Ukraine's schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, playgrounds - because russia is a victim

Right?