[pbourke]

There are many holes in your statements. I am too tired to rebut them in HN-normal form.

However, I will say this: even if one accepts everything that you claim at face value, nothing justifies what Putin/Russia are doing in Ukraine right now.

[thnujmikkkk]

I never said that Putin was a good guy or that I am in favor of his actions. You must see this as more nuanced than what the western media is presenting it as, though. If you look at this through a pragmatic lens, and see Putin as an actor playing the same game of geopolitical interests every other country is playing, you will easily understand how Washington's actions have led us to this point (albeit more subtly than the Kremlin).