I didn’t remove room for anything anyone has to say, CuriousLurker’s comments were all curiously devoid of actual opinion, notwithstanding I causally listed some grievances that, no, I can’t entirely prove.

Lurker’s insistence is on detail and evidence, but I posted a clear point. If he wants me to find the evidence whereby Putin confidently declared that there was no case to answer over Poland, he can side with the Kremlin there. I simply don’t trust Putin’s behaviour - another instance of his clumsy tells include his refusal to attend the announcement, whose result he supposedly didn’t know, of Russia hosting the World Cup, because he was aggrieved by a BBC documentary aired the previous evening alleging rank corruption. Or his uncomfortable broadcast prior to the Winter Olympics assuring viewers that he, himself, knew many people of the gay persuasion.

The plane crash was another matter in which his behaviour spoke more than his words. Nothing that wasn’t widely known, They were Polish politicians in Russia as an affront to Putin, Their plane was refused landing and landed without communication having dumped fuel, Despite a disconcerting lack of evidence Putin quickly declared no case to answer, in what should have been an international affair. I don’t call that definitive proof, but
I would be Curious to hear a proper opinion on whether to leave Crimea, like Abkhazia, or whether my suggestion that NATO and European armies should deploy and be prepared not just for peacekeeping but for defence is just unacceptable. If so, is that simply because Putin is just too dangerous?