[jstgord]

Surprisingly, I think the West _is_ actually willing to risk nuclear war over this.

I would not be surprised if EU offers interim membership to Ukraine, and then offers air support / no fly zone - calling Putins bluff and widening the conflict.

I think Europe _should_ regard war on Ukraine as a declaration of war on Europe, and the rest of the west _should_ regard war on EU as war on all Western countries.

One reason for this is that if the West does not retaliate towards this aggression, then others will surely follow - perhaps Russia decides Lithuania is part of Russia after all, or Chinese leadership is emboldened to 'take back' Taiwan ?

Even if Russia withdraws tomorrow, can the West trust a madman with nuclear weapons ?

I think the West is at war with Russia today, even if we haven't admitted it to ourselves yet.