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Reports this Sunday indicate growing fury from the tyrant dictator of Russia, Vladimir Putin. He's upset because, by most accounts, his invasion of Ukraine has not gone as he'd hoped.

To be clear, in terms of sheer weaponry and troops, Russia still has the upper hand here. But Ukraine forces – aided by their ARMED population – are putting up an incredible fight. Thank God.

Much of the free world is rallying behind Ukraine to one degree or another. With Putin humiliated on the international stage, and his entire country disgraced by his actions, you'd think he'd be re-evaluating his decision to invade.

But that doesn't appear to be the case. Remember, Vladimir Putin is an evil, irrational thug who literally appears to have lost his mind. Chemical and nuclear weapons from Russia are now a concern. In fact, earlier today, Putin ordered Russia's nuclear forces on alert.

This goes without saying, but Russia must be marginalized – both economically and militarily – and have NO STANDING within the international community until Vladimir Putin is either behind bars or no longer drawing breath.

Meanwhile, there have been some other positive developments since my last post yesterday:

First, the U.S. and our European allies announced the expulsion of several Russian banks from what's known as the SWIFT system. I'm intentionally oversimplifying this, but SWIFT is the computer network used to send financial transaction data between banks. Without SWIFT, these Russian banks will have a difficult time routing money in or out, especially for international payments.

While this is a meaningful step, it's not entirely clear at this point what exceptions are being made. Remember: the largest sector of Russia's economy is energy exports. So until Russian energy exports are sanctioned and payments frozen, that nation will still have massive amounts of money flowing in, which will continue to be used to help finance their war against Ukraine.

Second, the U.S. authorized up to $350 million worth of military aid to Ukraine yesterday. This includes anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, ammunition, and other "lethal defensive assistance." Good. More may be warranted, but this is still good news. Other nations are also providing assistance.

Third, I'll be heading to D.C. tomorrow (Monday), where Congress will likely consider additional funding for Ukraine's defenses and humanitarian aid. Details will be important here, and we'll have to see what's in the actual legislation.

And finally, reports are that Ukraine and Russia officials will meet shortly for talks. Nobody knows what will come from that, but the world needs to be praying that cooler heads prevail on the Russian side of those discussions, and that Vladimir Putin somehow comes to his senses.