Will America commit to a shooting war with Russia if Putin invades the Ukraine over joining NATO?

Ukraine can expect the same security as was provided to Afghanistan. Putin has a full understanding of our current administration’s weakness and will exploit it. Standby for China and Taiwan.

The NATO thing is BS from Putin. Ukraine is a long way from meeting the qualifications of becoming a NATO member. If having a NATO member on his border was really a concern Putin should have invaded Finland which is only not a member because it doesn't want to be. It's qualified to join and may actually decide it wants to now.

The GOP sure does love their Pootin. I can only imagine how worse this would be if trump was in charge.

I see this thread has evolved into another attempt to smear POTUS and not actually discuss the situation.

That ice cream licker will go on sanctions that don't matter...he won't go toe to toe with Putin IMHO!

Reality check here. Ukraine has been a NATO "Partner" for some time. Geopolitically, it will never be a Member until there are long term changes in Russia to the extent that Russia won't care. Don't hold your breath. People forget that NATO wasn't formed to offset the USSR. NATO was pushed by the Sergeants of WWI who became the Generals of WW2. Europe had up to 1916 been going at each other's throat every 75 years since the 1300s. Now we saw them at it 20 years later in WW2. The idea was if you could get England, Germany, and France to protect each other, then maybe you could break the cycle. It was many years before Germany was allowed to have the head of NATO be one of theirs. So NATO was pretty much sorted out and the USSR essentially made it a stop talking and do it now thing. We have little strategic or commercial interest in the Ukraine. It's not worth going to war over. Putin wants to create the old Soviet buffer of proxy states. Putin has had over seven years to prepare end arounds for sanctions. The US and British sanctions only apply to a limited range of banking institutions. You'd have to get the G-10 approval to block access to the Swiss banks on down. I don't see that germinating yet. Strict port control and internet isolation would get Putin's attention more. Regardless, this will get much messier before it gets better. Only sure winning tactic is to get the Russian people to turn on Putin. That will require widespread suffering on their part to get to that point. So far, neither the US or NATO has implemented much that will achieve that objective in the near term.

Russia has already invade the Ukraine. Twice. But they are doing it slowly. Putin is not an idiot. He realizes that no one wants s to go to real war, so he can take bite-size chunks out but by bit, pause to digest, and then take another bite or two. He knows that taking an ENTIRE country would be too much for world leaders to accept, so he is just taking parts.

I expect this to continue off and on until such time as the US and/or NATO start signaling more than just sanctions.

He annexed Crimea. Then he paused and waited. After a sufficient time for the world to more or less forget that Crimea belongs to Ukraine and accept the status quo, he began preparing for his next move.

He has now occupied Luhansk and Donetsk, and unilaterally declared them independent of the Ukraine. He will solidify his hold on these two regions, fortify them with Russian troops, and eventually "invite" them to join Russia, annexing those regions, as well. Then he will wait a few years, and take his next bite. The only consolation is that Putin is 69. He will likely die before he can finish the job.

It appears that Putin is staging this in a manner that Russia will be invited in. Russia has recognized two areas are independent states which gives them the right and ability to ask for foreign assistance. Like him or hate him but don't discount Putin, he is not stupid.

What I love about politics. If he does, he is trying to appear tough.....if he doesn't, it is because he is weak.

POTUS answered both of these this morning loud and clear, no and yes. Which then the Russians heard “green light” loud and clear. Also heard Ukraine is not Part of NATO .