That view could not be further from my own analysis of the situation… in the causes of the war in Ukraine..it’s using Putin’s semantics to call what the Russians have been waging against Ukraine since their 2014 annexing of Crimea as anything other than a war. NATO is not the aggressor, unlike Russia it does not invade any countries, its whole reason for being at all is as a defence organisation and as a deterrent to invasion of any member countries. Had Ukraine been admitted to NATO Putin would never have dared invade.
Why after all these years of staying neutral and not joining NATO do you think Sweden & Finland have now been more than eager to join? It’s because they see how not being in the NATO family leaves any country bordering Russia vulnerable to incursion and full scale invasion. I know Putin isn’t stupud, he’s quite the opposite, he’s a cold and calculating man who has waited a long time to fulfil his ambition of reconstructing the Soviet Empire and taking back into Russia’s orbit and sphere of influence, any stray former members who may be interested in looking westwards and becoming more democratic by joining NATO or the EU.

What I do agree is that the USA has a lot to answer for in supporting Israel no matter the number of UN sanctions it has ignored or downright defied, both in the West Bank and in Gaza. For anyone not to believe that what is happening at present in the starvation of the Palestinian people is not collective punishment and therefore genocide, beggars belief.

By the way I have never been of the belief that my own country is blameless in anything, historically there is much I can lay at their door too…but today mostly it’s criticism of not speaking out strongly enough against Israel and USA.

@Marionville We won't agree on NATO, but that is fine.
To counter your claim "NATO is not the aggressor, unlike Russia it does not invade any countries, its whole reason for being at all is as a defence organisation and as a deterrent to invasion of any member countries". I ask the simple question how were Iraq, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and Libya a threat to European security? It seems they overstep their charter somewhat yes?
Finland broke a long standing treaty to maintain neutrality regarding military alliance, now broken and not by Russia. The result? A militarised border. Thanks NATO, again, keeping Europe safer by ever expanding.

And the real game here is BRICS nations Vs US/ Western hegemony. Now if Putin is a megalomaniac, he would not be promoting BRICS. It is why they hold back with Ukraine, it would drive states away from joining BRICS.

So either Putin is a meglomaniac out to recreate USSR glory days, or he is taking a stand against Western hegemony in order to promote a multipolar world, one with no super powers, via BRICS.
He can't be both.

@Marionville the whole Ukraine war is so senseless, caused by the ego's of major powers.
You need just look at history and current geopolitics and a military neutral Ukraine makes perfect sense. A buffer zone between two opposing nuclear armed forces. Russia seems to accept this, Ukraine military neutrality with security guarantees from both NATO and the Russian federation so they would not need a large military. This would have resulted in Ukraine being the gateway between two worlds, much like Turkey is.
But Ukraine was never allowed to flourish with ethnic tensions ignited and fed by those with ulterior motives. NATO insisted on Ukraine being a non-neutral country and kept pushing the matter. And here we are.

This is the reason why I do not support NATO over all other reasons.
A defense pact has rejected a sovereign nations ability to choose neutrality, a neutrality to be combined with security guarantees from both opposing defense alliances aka NATO and Russian federation,, in favour of conflict. Why? All in the name of European security of course silly, feel safer?

NATO is no defense pact, instead they promote expansion knowingly causing conflict. They are the foreign legion of Western empire, continuously expanding. Good money spinner for some I believe.
Go BRICS I say.

@puff Well as you live in Australia you can have the luxury of not supporting NATO…you will never need to join it to counter Russia’s expansionist ambitions. Neutrality is no longer an option in Europe as demonstrated by Sweden & Finland’s recent admission after decades of neutrality. The Ukrainian people know they can’t be neutral, they have made the choice to apply to join both the EU and NATO, as is their democratic right as a sovereign nation. Had they been admitted already this Russian invasion would never have occurred, Putin was emboldened by them not being a NATO member.
You are as entitled to your point of view as anyone of course, because “opinions are like arseholes…everybody has one”.

@Marionville Such a shame the EU would never accept Ukraine, far too corrupt and no-one wanted them. A bit too poor, backward cousinish for the toffs of Western Europe is Ukraine.
So what do the corrupt do? They find a back door. Well hello NATO! Membership in NATO will get you into EU Europe for sure! You're not brown like the Turks, you'll be in like Flynn!

At least the EU has elections I suppose, unlike NATO.

You do understand that NATO also had the democratic right to tell Ukraine to piss off as their non military alliance neutrality was so important to Russia that Ukraine joining NATO would, with certainty, cause conflict? NATO is a defense pact, there to avoid conflict so that was the wise choice. But no, not yet part of NATO, NATO just give "lethal aid" to keep the conflict going. Gunna weaken Russia you see, along with sanctions, so then they will never threaten us superior Western European types. Great plan guys and gals, weakening Russia. How's that working out for ya? World's more stable, going forward, futures looking rosy is it?
Just imagine if Ukranian neutrality was accepted by NATO, and Boris never flew to Kiev early April 2022. What a different world it would be.
Yes everyone has arseholes, problem is some think theirs don't stink. I'm talking us, in the West. We can't go around all superior anymore because the shit we have been pulling out our's lately, like the last 20 years, absolutely reeks and is on the nose to all that are forced to live with us.

I feel for you…who knows what state your country will be in by the end of his tenure.

@Marionville Thank you. I worry about that a lot myself, and what it will take to get it back on track.

@Marionville-- it will not be good but sadly britain & most of the ROW will be in an even worse state.