To think we cannot afford to support Ukraine anymore

I'm betting you're an anti vaxxer too

Everything you have posted is just wrong. Every bit of it

Britain's cold War with Russia has always been on the radar, even if (superficially) it looked to have thawed.
But that certainly never stopped the Government encouraging almost £2 billion worth of Russian investment in the UK. (Separate from the donations to British Political parties)

And you really don't need to be a Political analyst to raise an eyebrow and question the integrity of such 'investments' especially considering the fragility of British / Russian relations is historic.

The Government has just annouced an increase in investment in Security and Intelligence Agencies to £3.7 billion over the next three years, and current defence budgets are set at £48billion.

Meanwhile 14.5 million people are estimated to be living in poverty in the UK.

End of life charity Marie Cure recently published the findings of a research report stating that 90,000 people die in poverty each year in the UK and have subsequently launched a campaign to give dying people early access to their state pension. Let's see how that pans out.

Ah right. We made them do it

It's fuck all business of Russia what sovereign nations choose to do.

the EU countries are not "quiet"

Even Macron has come up trumps today

To the OP: there are numerous reasons for the UK to support Ukraine, but also, follow the money. Yes it costs to support Ukraine but don’t forget that the UK’s defence industry is benefiting financially from the war. The share price for BAE systems leapt up when Putin declared war in Feb 2022 and has remained high.

The damage that Russian forces have inflicted on Ukrainian infrastructure if Ukraine win, will at some point need to be repaired. The support the UK is offering may open doors to lucrative opportunities for British engineering and construction companies, and companies in other sectors when it is time to rebuild. And once rebuilt, Ukraine is potentially an exciting trading partner, with rich soils, natural resources and an educated population, quite a few of whom will speak English.

For Ukrainians reading, I am happy that the UK is offering significant support to help your nation defeat Putin and his army. It is the only morally acceptable course of action. I want very much for you to have your lives and country restored. 🇺🇦

The balticc states will be next if he wins in Ukraine. High ethnic Russian populations who don't have the same rights as non Russians in Estonia and Latvia. He will go in to protect them, or so he will say. Then we have a legal obligation to send our military to fight on the ground as they are all in Nato. He already runs supplies through lithuania to Russian kalingrad and when they said they were going to prevent it he said he would invade them. Then the cost will be dead UK citizens not higher heating bills.

Energy prices and energy security issues have come about because of the sanctions imposed internationally on Russia. That will continue to have an impact on the UK domestically even if the UK stopped providing financial and military aid direct to Ukraine.

Unless OP thinks the UK should drop the sanctions and buy some cheap gas from Russia ...

Nah, too far away for Putin. Northern Ireland would be a better option.

Sarcasm aside, I hope this thread does not get pulled given the excellent contributions from well informed posters counter arguing the OPs disingenuous opening question.

We are incredibly fortunate not to have our homes wrecked and friends die around us. Completely puts our problems in perspective. Of course we should continue to help. It’s also a drop on the ocean compared to our nations spend (and what has been wasted from deals in our present government with their mates). Wake up OP!

And I bet the Government have never handed back over £3million of funding (at least) that they have received from Soviet born donors.

In fact, just days after Boris 'warned' Putin about invading Ukraine, the Conservative party happily accepted a £65,000 donation from the wife of one of Putin's former aides!

Oh, the hypocrisy.

where did he say it is the worse case outcome for the west? I think he is saying a compromise is better because it allows putin to save face.

Nope. Literally not what he said. On his own LinkedIn.

His view is that a negotiated settlement that left Putin on the world stage and having made territorial gains would make him the winner/lesser loser because it would mean a fractured western alliance, a weaker NATO and a signal that western sanctions were ineffective. Putin would be relatively strengthened compared to the west - thus, the 'lesser loser'.

He's a fan of the rules based international system, it seems from his writings, and said at the start that he saw the conflict as a test of the power of US and Western sanctions in how the world order lines up.

Honestly, if you're going to invoke someone you should check what they've actually said about the issue under discussion.

Not sure why US needs to feel any energy price pain. This is apropos of nothing.

Do you think the US somehow responsible for the shit show, not Putin? Old thought patterns are hard to break. Careful, you are starting to show your true colours, Russian bot.

Right out of the bot playbook to quote useful idiots in the West. You must keep a list of them to pull out of the bag from time to time.

@Saysomething1234 as has been pointed out numerous times, you are one of them.

@Saysomething1234

youre just being deliberately provocative now.

it's past your bedtime.

night night

These are some unbelievable people on here. The ignorance and/or callousness is terrible.

It's better to be quiet & thought an idiot, , than to open your mouth & prove it.

read what people are posting FFS

The UK Government literally uses millions upon millions of pounds of taxpayer's money to fight in actual and proxy wars. They also trade weapons with selective dictatorships because it benefits them to do so. Most taxpayers are not even clued up about the full extent.

Yet, on the other hand, British Veterans who were used in horrific Nuclear testing as guinea pigs by the Government have been kicked to the kerb, stopped from getting compensation or recognition and are being silenced despite years of campaigning.

Never trust what the Government tells you. They will use civilians suffering to invoke sympathy but when they are dropping the bombs, they will say the fatalities are 'unavoidable collateral damage'

They don't care!

Why is that relevant to the question I asked?

Does it change the fact that he thinks a negotiated settlement would be a bad outcome for the West?

Imagine the UK would cease all support for Ukraine at this moment. Why do you think it would influence the energy prices in the UK ?
UK's support for Ukraine is significant, but they won't stop defending themselves if you stop supporting them.

The world is at war whether we want to be involved or not, and refusing to support Ukraine would earn us the contempt of our allies, who are doing their part right now, especially the States.

The Ukraine war will not go on forever; some sort of settlement will eventually be reached, but Putin needs to be forced to feel some serious pain, otherwise he and his successors (not to mention China) will be enboldened to do even worse things in the future. It's a choice of, do we want to eat a shit sandwich now, or an even bigger shit sandwich five or ten years from now?

Much of the pain is coming from the energy transition, but this energy transition is something that needs to happen anyway, and speeding up the transition is akin to ripping the bandaid - painful but necessary and unavoidable.