How many lives should be sacrificed to change who rules over the land already taken by Russia?

What about all the lives that have been lost so far and all the suffering by people basically defending themselves

Should their death count for nothing?

Yeah, that would've been the time to have done something, not waited until it's an unstoppable war. And wars are fought over more than just land (obviously...). Public reception and national pride are key factors also. Both have major incentives to never back down. At some point it becomes enabling by other countries to keep supplying resources for a scenario that won't change the outcome.

Any country, including the US, could consider getting directly involved and actually "end it" at any time if they wanted to... but then each have to admit that they actually don't want a direct war with Russia. So yeah, why would Russia back down if it still thinks by maintaining the status quo it'll eventually get what it wants?

There's also the small, but not nonexistent possibility all of our countries get pulled deeper into war depending on what Ukraine does. Maybe Ukraine becomes desperate or acts out of national pride and starts invading parts of Russia? Then what? Are we all going to be like "Woo Hoo, Go Ukraine!" when that happens?... probably not.

Putin has made it clear he wants to restore russia to the size of the soviet union. That is unacceptable in europe. Europe is already at war, they just don't want to admit it yet

My feeling on that has always been they're just waiting for him to croak. Wasn't it reported he had a terminal illness? If they believe those reports, it makes a lot of sense to hold off... he's 72.

There is also the scenario where everyone close to him wants him dead, because he really is an evil sob. Ambitious people are just waiting for the slightest weakness and they will strike. As he gets older, the more likely it is to happen

Appeasement and rewarding for unprovoked aggression and invasion of another Country, is never going to lead to anything really positive in the end.
I would never support that.

Russia should not be allowed to even try to, never mind take Ukrainian territory.
Give anything to Russia at all, then it's likely they'll be back for more in the future.

Sure. And some people could live up to 99 being a warmonger out of pure spite and stubbornness. Putin does seem capable of this, but if it's something like terminal illness, spite would only help so much... that said, the US could theoretically end the war at anytime. Sure, why not? It's a thing that has been done. So I think that is the leverage we hold in these "talks". Which is probably more just to build pressure than to try to negotiate anything immediate...

Trump is transactional, he wants to increase his personal wealth. Selling arms to Nato/Ukraine nets him billions. Why would he want a ceasefire? :laugh:

While we are on the subject of Trump, have you seen the oval office recently? It's just wall to wall gold everywhere. It's so tacky :laugh:

"Gold everywhere" has been his personal aesthetic since forever. But actually, looking at what I did see of the oval, it actually fits in with the history of the place much more nicely than I'd seen in terms of how he decorated other buildings, which often looks very tacky. However, the gold leaf works well for the history/classic feel of the building and it gives a very antique feeling without not looking too modern. (It'd never look right)

Probably it is meant to move prominent/international guests more than us to be honest. If you go into internationally well-known hospitals in the US that are frequented by higher class populations, they're decorated very very similarly and that is a common aesthetic among the rich... yes, with gold leaf and giving the look of opulence in a hospital. The oval office doubles as a museum, so at least it makes more sense here at least...

At least he didn't go full bright ass gold among even all the little artifacts, which most people generally do when they do for gold leaf, they go very bold. There's touches of white gold in there as well and it balances it better and it's not screaming "GOLD!" all over the entire frame... the furniture reads very successful doctor office lobby though... again, a very common aesthetic in that space...

Edit: This was a thing also at some point:

Gold Toilet Offered to Donald Trump Will Be Housed at Winston Churchill’s Birthplace
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/...lls-birthplace

But I seem to remember there were rumors of a golden toilet well before that because his gold fetish was that well known.