I am for private humanitarian aid only. I give to Samaritans purse for that.
As for the settlement of this conflict. Those regions taken are ethnic Russian primarily. Thing to do is get a cease fire, if that is possible anymore, and see if the present in line actual Tsar would become the head of those states that are split off. He rules as a constitutional monarch.
The trick is to get the cease fire. Then get him installed and then who the hell would become the military police to enforce the peace between these? Hungary? Austria?
The slavic peoples are incapable of an independent elected leader. They’ve never actually had one that can be claimed as a leader who is not corrupt.
The Tsar in waiting is supported and recognized by the Eastern Orthodox churches...Ukrainian and Russian especially.
The damage in the split off areas of the old Ukraine regions get paid for by Russia. The rest by European NATO countries.
Crimea stays with Russia.
END THIS WAR NOW.
The majority of Ukrainians will never settle for such a resolution. Not any more. Any leader who does (try to settle thusly) will be lucky to get out alive. Besides, some substantial places, like Mariupol, were not even majority ethnic Russian, much less pro-Russian, in recent years. Yet, the Russians can’t lose Mariupol if they intend to keep Crimea, or any of Southern Ukraine east of Mariupol.
You do correctly bring up the point of who keeps the two sides from constantly flaring up new conflicts. Good Lord, you’d need at least 100k very well armed and DETERMINED* troops, from “somebody” both sides would accept.
*Back in the days of the warring factions in the former Yugoslavia, sometimes one could a bit later read the reports of the peacekeepers. I read a few. In one case a Danish unit was assigned to protect a village. Per the Danes’ (who were pretty good troops by all accounts) commander, the Serbs rolled in with a few tanks and simply pushed the Danes aside, proceding to massacre everyone in the village, men, women, and children. (Atrocities went the other way too; my point is the extreme difficulty of peacekeeping in such a large and sometimes “mixed” area.)
BTW, who is this Tsar in waiting that is supported by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church?
On a bit more positive note, private giving is one thing - my wife and I give to relief efforts through her church. But when it comes to taxpayer money for humanitarian purposes, I think the US effort should turn to useful relief items sent to Ukraine, not $$. I could probably also support money sent to Romania, Poland, etc., for help / shelter for refugees in those countries.