Agree with all the points you have raised. PM Modi spoke with Putin directly and appealed for direct Ukraine-Russia talks to resolve the crisis. I doubt whether these 'urgings' will bear fruit, but that is the most India is (can) willing to do. The history of US aid is a wretched one in India and has historically come laced with comments like the Nixon-Kissinger exchange I used in the article. Western interventionism has gone unpunished and it isn't hard to see where the current idea germinated in Putin's head. Beyond whataboutery, the invasion is condemnable and we, as voters, should be willing to pay the inevitable price of cutting Russian oil & gas flows.