“First of all, I worked for President Trump and know he does not share your favorable view of Putin or the Russians.”
My view is kind of neutral on them, similar to India’s view. What I object to are emotional reactions that can easily lead to WW3 or a Major Depression, or both.
The way to deal with Russia is to accept the fact that they can blow us off the map at any time and to work on being strong enough to make that very costly for them, and to also not be so reliant on them. As to Europe and especially Ukraine, they decided to make their bed with Russia by being reliant on their energy and not taking them seriously as a military threat, so they can deal with this on their own.
So, if the media and our government could be reasonably neutral on this, then I wouldn’t have to be posting what appears to be pro-Putin propaganda.
I am very old school and a cold warrior. I hate Russians with a passion. So when you even appear to stand with them...you aren’t my friend.