First off let me make clear there are numerous reasons why the Russian aggression in Eastern Europe must be repelled and repelled without Russia gaining material benefits from invaded its neighbor.

Aggressive wars of conquest must have consequences and that must be uniformly negative, or we invite other nations to follow in that profitable lead.

The horrors that have been visited upon the Ukrainians, which echo the history of the 20th century, must be answered. Ukraine was forcibly integrated into the communist empire by the Russian Bolsheviks and suffered greatly as subjects of the evil soviet empire as well as Nazi atrocities during the second world war. By both malice, such as the Holodomor when the Soviets starved millions of Ukrainians to death, or by incompetence such as when lies and budgetary short cuts instigated the greatest civilian nuclear disaster in history with Chernobyl the Ukrainians have suffered at the hands of the Russian and they deserve their freedom.

But there is another reason the Ukrainians must win, and it is a reason that matters to every person on this blue-green planet.

In 1991, when Ukraine declared its independence which shattered the USSR it took with it a massive collection of nuclear weapons, the third largest armory of these in the world, along with the technological ability to design and create more. The world stood on the precipice of a rapidly expanding number of nuclear armed states.

1994 Ukraine surrendered its nuclear arsenal and committed itself to non-proliferation. As part of that commitment Ukraine received security assurances that most importantly the UK, the USA, and ironically Russian would provide assistance should Ukraine be subject to an act of aggression. They walked away from nuclear weapon on our promises.

If Russia topples the Ukrainian government or seizes large elements of its territory the lesson heard around the globe will be clear. Those without nuclear weapons can be subjugated by those with them. A lesson made crystal clear by Iraq and Tunisia and now if true for the second largest nation in Europe one that cannot but inspire a scramble for the only safeguard against the superpowers of the world, your own nuclear weapons. A world where Ukraine falls or loses great swaths of land may very well lead to world where more and more nations armed themselves with nuclear devices. And the world becomes a powder keg that endangers us all.