IT’S said to be darkest before dawn. Really?

It’s something I’ve taken on trust, I’m sure some readers have tested the truth of it; but, true or not, as a metaphor it works.

At one time or another we’ve all nearly given up just before the point where things turn around.

The people of Ukraine must be praying they are at that point.

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Tom Collins: The West must stop Trump’s bid to sell out Ukraine

Four and a half years into the Soviet invasion of their country – 12 years from the annexation of Crimea – there is no end in sight to the horrors of war. It’s dark there right now.

In recent weeks Russia has been stepping up its assault on infrastructure and civilian targets, while Ukraine’s response has been checked by a shortage of weaponry, and by the presence of a bad actor in the United States. With allies like Trump, who needs enemies?

At the weekend, Trump’s ‘yes-men’ were kow-towing to Vladimir Putin in Moscow, before heading to Ukraine to put pressure on its beleaguered president.

For those of us who grew up through the period of the Cold War, the sight of once-mighty America prostrating itself before Putin is pretty shocking.........

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