The comment made like a parent scolding a child heard around the world

“Pope warns moscow patriarch kirill not to be putins alter boy”

Pope Francis condemns Ukraine’s ban on Russian Orthodox Church | National Catholic Reporter

 

Two things can be true at once.
The Ukies have fought bravely and well against the Russies since 2014 - AND they've not been a paragon of virtue and light as a nation.
Pre 2013, I would not have let them NEAR a NATO membership because (a) I read how WW1 got started and (b) The Ukies were a fairly horribly run nation post Soviet Breakup.

I do not mind terribly the fact that we've spent OUR money and Ukrainian lives profligately in killing Rooskies and breaking their things, but sooner or later we're going to have to move the car wreck off the side of the road and get on with our lives.
We've expended all of the older consumables and what @bwilson4web calls 'low s/n equipment' but the drain on our stores and equipment is starting to tell - and the dollah cost has been non-zero as well (although a bit of it has gone back into our military contractors.)

We're also going to be in a shooting war with the ChiComms pretty soon - OR the same war mongering liberals who want to be generous with other people's money and brave with other people's blood NOW will feel differently (for some reason ) when it's Taiwan.
Unfortunately, a blockade or invasion of THAT nation will bring about 'slightly different' economic consequences.......

 

He should do what, just expose his belly to the aggressor then? Bloody astounding stance, man.

 

Ukraine WAS one of the most corrupt countries. They got tired of it, and went through their own version of an Arab Spring

Euromaidan - Wikipedia

When it was over, they kicked out Viktor Yanukovych, (a Russian puppet) and elected Zelinskii. Yanukovych fled to Russia

Viktor Yanukovych - Wikipedia

Ukraine has taken many steps to end the corruption and oligarchy since, starting with electing Zelinskii. That's when the Russians got pissed and invaded. That was back in 2014. Yevgeny Prigozhin invaded Crimea with his paramilitary troops. Another Prigozhin enterprise was the Internet Research Agency (look up the Mueller report on what they did in 2016).

@ColoradoBoo, you're full of Russian propaganda. Russia committed war crimes. In no way will Ukraine and Zelinskii shrug that off

War crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine - Wikipedia

What happened in the Oval Office was a disgusting betrayal of an ally and a friend. Someone who's trying to do what's right by his country. Americans negotiated with Russia in Saudi Arabia without anybody from Europe or Ukraine. They sold out Ukraine and their dreams of ending the Russian corruption and oligarchy in their country.

As for WW3, Ukraine gave up all of its nuclear weapons in a deal with the United States and Russia. It's Russia that's threatening with nuclear weapons, has launched IRBM MIRV at a Ukraine, threatened and launched an attack on Chernobyl (making it a dirty bomb), and threatens the nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia.

Russia is a corrupt oligarchy. They should have taken Ukraine in 3 days, but haven't managed that in over 3 years. How? Because of all of the corruption. Everything was stolen, or rotted out. Russia is done as a country. The only thing holding it together is propaganda and lies. They're sending their troops into battle on donkeys, bicycles and hoverboards and you think Ukraine should surrender? Even if Russia wins the war today, they're done as a country. Everything has been stolen and there's nothing left.