“Another point to make is that Ukraine could have directed resources towards defending their nation from Russia over the past decade or two rather than present ineffective defense that they have done.”
But they did that for the past 8 years.
Prior to 2014, most Ukrainians were ambivalent about nationality. Only with Putin’s invasion did people start thinking of themselves as less “tutajsi” (we’re from here) and more in terms of nationality.
The tragedy for Russia is, that if they had used soft power - cultural and literary and been kind to its neighbor, it would have gotten Ukraine in its orbit quite nicely.
But that would have meant less polish for Tsar Putin
I don’t disagree that there is tragedy all around, and that this conflict was not necessary. But here we are.
I am for preserving Ukrainian lives. Further combat with Russia increases the destruction and misery.
The West is not going to escalate this conflict. The opportunity was last week and we wisely chose not to do so.
After the $50B is stolen, we will have a window for peace.