The United Nations Security Council

There could be a secure evacuation route, though. Since Russia is in violation of a ceasefire, the United Nations Security Council can rule to establish a secure route for people exiting the country.

That is not a miiltary issue. That is saving the lives of people willing to leave Ukraine because of the threat of death.

The United Nations should also recognize the billions of people around the globe demonstrating in support of Ukrainian people. A vast number of people in countries nearly on every continent recognize the atrocities Russia is conducting for the sake of Putin's politics.

The evacuation route would have to be defended if there was violence along the path to safety. There are videos of refugee camps. That happened fairly quickly.

The U.S. government (click here) is allowing a Moscow-chartered flight to land in D.C. Saturday afternoon to ensure Russian diplomats are removed from the country

The flight has been approved to fly out Russian diplomats who were expelled this week from their posts at the United Nations

According to tracking website FlightAware, a Rossiya Special Flight Squadron will land at Dulles International Airport shortly after 2pm

Russia has denied the allegations against its diplomats and says it will retaliate for their expulsion

Let's hope we don't have to scramble NORAD. That would be very bad if something stupid happened. We should have flown them to the Ukraine border and told them to hike to Moscow. Backpacks provided, of course.

PayPal, Zara and Samsung (click here) are leaving Russia. That is going to hurt the people. They won't have a method to purchase items online. But, since most online services won't exist within Russia, it will be just the next step to isolationism and domestically hand made babushkas. We are going to miss those Russian nesting dolls.

Normalizing relations?

Putin thinks Ukrainians are nothing more than petulant children?

Putin invades a country without his countrymen knowing and his military completely blind to the purpose in war games only to unleashes hell on a sovereign country. That is a victory? That is what Putin is saying. He is saying he has scored a victory in Ukraine. Who is keeping score because I don't see it that way at all.

Putin has murdered people, including children. He has displaced millions. He is threatening the lives of millions more. Invaded a protected nuclear facility at Chernobyl against any document that exists establishing that protection and control of the facility. He fires rockets into another nuclear facility without any conscience whatsoever at all and we are supposed to recognize that as a victory and time to normalize relations. 

I don't think so.

Very surprised at the lack of sophistication of Vladimir Putin.

Perhaps he is just a criminal and that clearly defines what is going on with Ukraine.

Human rights is not a bargaining chip. He is stating that sanctions placed on Russia and the leadership of Russia should be removed otherwise Ukraine will not achieve statehood within the redefined borders of Russia. He states all relations with other countries need to be normalized. 

Human rights are rights that every living person on Earth has with the simple act of being born. There is no bargaining chip in that. The reason the USA is engaged in humanitarian aid all over the world is because it recognizes the problems some countries have in suppling the most basic human needs to their people. It is why the United Nations has missions to engage in peacekeeping and humanitarian aid to those either oppressed or facing climate emergencies. 

Vladimir Putin is attempting to say that Ukraine will have statehood if relationships with Russia are normalized. That is of itself a human rights violation. An aggressor country cannot simply take land away from people and then hold the land hostage to sanctions. That is bizarre to say the least.

I sincerely believe Russia is a third world country that has nuclear weapon capacity no different than other impoverished countries where oppression of the people serves the purpose of the elite of the country. They put hostile weapons before the human needs of it's people. It is ridiculous to define borders of what was a free and productive people. Ukrainians are peace loving. They don't deserve this aggression. It did NOTHING to deserve a war within it's borders.

Vladimir Putin lost his right to demand anything at the first vicious deaths of innocent people. The Geneva Conventions clearly state civilians have a special status and should never be the target of military aggression. They can do nothing to protect from such acts, yet alone fight back.

No one should be surprised that a ceasefire was never honored. Minsk I or II were never honored. Why would that change now?

President Zelenskyy is correct, "No Fly Zones" do create SPACES for innocent people to establish a homeland of sorts. We saw that with north and south Iraq. This is different. Unfortuntely. The equivalent would be to establish a No Fly Zone over Russia. Russia is invading Ukraine and to state a No Fly Zone could be established means NATO would be entering the war. A No Fly Zone might escalate the war.

I think it would be difficult to establish as well. President Zelenskyy should take his case to the United Nations. If many nations agreed to it and there could be parameters set up to enforce it without triggering a greater war, then it may be possible. It would take the resolve of the world. 

I will say this, though. Establishing a No Fly Zone or two over Ukraine is sort of like giving permission for Russia to occupy land that does not belong to them, except, where the No Fly Zone exists. Setting up No Fly Zones could result in giving up more land to Russia in the long run. The entire country of Ukraine, without exception, to include Crimea and eastern Ukraine would have to be under a No Fly Zone to maintain it's sovereign integrity.

It was different with Iraq. I think the differences are obvious. 

Russia needs to leave Ukraine and end their displacment and killing spree of Ukrainian people. I know the argument is that Ukrainians are Russians in their speech. Speaking Russian does not define ethnicity or loyalty. It certainly doesn't define genetics.

An elderly woman is helped while crossing a destroyed bridge as she tries to leave the city of Irpin, in the Kyiv region

This woman and her escorts have a very long journey. She has to go west and move across half the size of Ukraine in order to find a safe haven. This is heart breaking. She, at her age, is facing destruction of the only homeland she knew.