John, a simple carving away the Donbas needs avoiding and strikes me as an appeasement by the West giving Putin dangerously too much appetite to continue. The most that possibly could be offered is for the people in Dondas and Crimea to decide for themselves which country they wish to be a part of (if a practical way can be found to do this).

Putin's Russia is a threat beyond Ukraine and that needs fully understanding by the West.

Putin is aggressively pushing the cultural war and war of ideology. When there is such gross misconduct, ideology and the church come in really handy. They make for great partners as witnessed in the U.S. where the "devout" signed up with Trump.

Our relationship with Xi Jinping and China is instrumental in dealing with Russia and now in Ukraine. The current U.S. / China animosities are dangerous for both countries' security and prosperity. Unfortunately too few see that and understand that we and the world are better off connected and not separated.

Many thanks