[QUOTE=the other bob wilson;5572295]The US voters wanted someone who'd reduce the cost of living first and foremost according to the poll I saw this week (79 per cent, the biggest single reason why people voted Republican). Incoming Governments always claim they have been given a mandate for everything that was in their manifesto, but your average person only votes on the basics or maybe on a pet, pretty minor, policy of theirs that the new Government supports, they don't go through the manifestos with a fine toothcomb and then not vote for any party that has something in them that they don't agree with.

I'm pretty sure there weren't many Americans who voted for Trump to do a Neville Chamberlain impersonation by appeasing Putin, bnt it didn't stop him winning - albeit by only about 1.5 per cent, yet that's big enough for him to start acting like some kind of monarch apparently.[/QUOTES q]

Yeah of course. US voters weren't voting on Ukraine as a number one issue, although the money to fund it was an issue in itself. Moreover the war did raise global prices so there is the indirect link. That is felt more keenly in Europe with Germany the biggest if not the most impacted example. And we see it there, where one way or another maintaining the war in Europe is having a big impact across the continent and it's hard to sustain.

I think that's the issue. We won't beat Russia without being embroiled in a very serious global conflict, which I don't think we want. We also almost certainly won't see Putin voluntarily back down. So the option is a continued war that destabilises Europe, is increasing unsustainable and costs hundreds of thousands of lives. Or. We seek some kind of peace, that will never be on perfect terms but peace never is.

I also think you know the Neville Chamberlain comparison is not accurate. If nothing else it should refer to when Putin took Crimea when everyone shrugged their shoulders.

Headline below is "Zelensky to meet Vance as Trump pushes for Ukraine peace talks..". Is that really such a dreadful thing?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c24728zpp70t