>> It was Kyiv that started the war by sending troops to attack the Donbas in 2014 and that was the West’s installed “temporary” government that started the war – not any elected Ukrainian government. <<
Again, he writes as if Donbas was a Russian province, not part of Ukraine. And as if there hadn’t been a truce. And as if Ukrainian voters hadn’t voted out Poroshenkov precisely because they sought a better relationship with Russia and peace in the Donbas.
I believe they agreed to allow the Donbas to have greater autonomy and Ukraine broke the deal...and Merkel basically admitted they made that deal in 2014 with no intention of honoring it. How big a step is it to go from a proxy war with Russia to the real deal?