That sounds like an incredibly interesting topic for a post, so please do write it if you haven't already

Worse yet, Witkoff has been actively helping the Kremlin manipulate Trump: a leaked transcript of a phone call between Witkoff and Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s most senior foreign policy adviser, shows Witkoff giving Ushakov advice on how to convince Trump against helping Ukraine.

16/20

I have said this before, I will say this again: arming the Ukrainians to defend themselves is the best bang-for-buck in defense spending in decades.

Give Ukraine munitions and they will reliably put those explosives on America's enemies.

Just not on Trump's enemies and thus the problem.

Russia is an anti-Democratic dictatorship, oligarchy and kleptocracy currently engaging in a genocidal war against Ukraine in pursuit of the delusion of re-establishing the Russian Empire.

Yes, Imperialism is bad even when it's not the US doing it.

This is coming extremely close to justifying those crimes

obligations, which necessitates build-up now, or to abandon Eastern Europe to their fate.

At least to those of us not living in Russia. It would therefore not be outside the realms of possibility that he might attack the baltics (for example) if he achieves what he sees as a successful outcome in Ukraine. At that point Western Europe need to either be prepared to fulfil their alliance...

I'd disagree, preparing for the eventuality of war with Russia is the prudent move. The argument that Putin wouldn't attack a NATO member supposes he is a rational actor, while his actions since 2022 have proven that he is willing to gamble with the future of his country in a way that defies reason

The strong do what they can (ie stack rocks) and the weak suffer what they must (also stacking rocks)

Well tens of millions of people who have the bad fortune of finding ourselves "on Russia's doorstep"do, so the opinion of that genocidal fascist dictator frankly doesn't concern me