Prime Ministers of Poland, Slovenia and Czech Republic en route to meet Zelensky in Kyiv

The Prime Minsters of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic have departed on a train bound for Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

The train with the leaders on board departed before 9 a.m. local time, the head of the chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland, Michal Dworczyk, said Tuesday.

Traveling to the Ukrainian capital is Poland's Mateusz Morawiecki and his deputy Jarosław Kaczyński, Slovenia's Janez Janša and the Czech Republic's Petr Fiala.

The purpose of the visit is "to confirm the unequivocal support of the entire European Union for the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine and to present a broad package of support for the Ukrainian state and society," a government spokesperson said.

Your emotional, ill-informed, inarticulate response reflects your level of intellect. I debated whether to address some of the issues you raise, but I will give it a go.

NATO expansion was a mistake. We lost an opportunity to restore Russia to the family of Europe after the Soviet Union collapsed. Russia no longer represented a threat to Europe and NATO was in search of a mission.

For the former members of the Warsaw Pact, the Baltic countries, and the former nations of Yugoslavia, joining NATO was an insurance policy against future Russian imperialism. Under Article 5 of the NATO charter, an attack against one is an attack against all. A good deal for those countries. For the US, it meant becoming the guarantor of their sovereignty up to and including nuclear war. Should we risk all in defense of Latvia? And Russia needs to calculate if it wishes to test that proposition.

I deal with people from Eastern Europe, some who grew up doing the communist days, a lot of them friends, one of whom I am romantically dating who comes from Poland and you know who they fear, Russia, you know who has them scared shitless, Russia, not NATO,...

I was stationed 2 years in Warsaw (1981-83) during the days of Solidarnosc' and martial law. There was also rationing of food. I understand firsthand the hatred the Poles have for the Russians--for good reason. Poland was ravaged during WWII and Warsaw was reduced to rubble. I have been back once to Poland after the fall of the Soviet Union. Different country. Much more prosperous and free.

I also was stationed in West Berlin (1983-87) before the Wall came down. Berlin was governed under the Quadripartite Agreement by the four powers, US, France, UK, an the Soviet Union. The difference between West Berlin and East Berlin was stark. I could travel freely throughout the city, including the East. The Soviets were part of the controls into and out of the city along the corridors to West Germany. In sum, I am personally familiar what it is like to live under a Communist regime.

We recognized that Eastern Europe was under the Soviet sphere if influence, Eisenhower and NATO did not get involved in the 1956 Hungarian uprising that was brutally put down by the Soviets as well as other uprisings in Warsaw Pact countries. Nor did we try to stop the erection of the Berlin Wall.

you know what after he is done with Ukraine and if he manages to take it over do you not think he will not hit elsewhere, and what then, are you still going to say the same damn thing.

We have treaty obligations under the NATO agreement under Article 5. We have no such obligation with Ukraine. We should leave no doubt that we will fulfill our treaty obligations. Simple as that.

Also I didnt know supporting the people who which to be FREE from a DICTATOR is being a chickenhawk, I thought it what America is all about, I guess not anymore,

We should only commit our blood and treasure when our national interests are at stake. We should fulfill our defense commitments around the globe whether it is Japan or Poland. However, we are not the world's policeman. In fact, we are the world's biggest debtor nation. Our ability to afford wars of choice rather than necessity is being severely circumscribed. 20 years in Afghanistan at a cost of trillions of dollars and over 10,000 deaths and wounded is example A of why we should use the criterion of American interests as the only one when it comes to the use of our military.

No one is defending Putin or the invasion. The question is the degree of our involvement. Is it in our interests? Is it worth direct confrontation with the Russians and possibly an escalation of hostilities?

The Russians have a GDP of $1.7 trillion. NATO countries have close to 40 times that. Russia has 145 million people, dwarfed by the populations of the EU and the US. It has a population growth rate of minus .2% --207th lowest in the world. Total Fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (2021 est.) 2.1 is the replacement rate. Average life expectancy for males is 67 years. 72 years overall. The median age in Russia is 40.3 years. An aging, declining population is not the stuff of a world class war machine.

Russia is only a military threat to Europe by virtue of its nuclear arsenal. They resemble nothing to the threat they posed in 1968 when I was a naval officer attached to AFSOUTH in Naples. We had over 500,000 US personnel in Europe not counting dependents. I don't fear Putin attacking NATO countries. It won't happen. And Putin lacks the forces to even occupy Ukraine, a country the size of Teas with 46 million people. Putin is looking for an exit and we should provide him with one.

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