“” must fail and be seen to fail .” An interesting formulation before the invasion. Not like scripted or anything.”
That’s why our US gvt propaganda keeps defining Putin’s goals as the occupation of the entire Ukraine. Because he will “fail” at that if he even wants it.
What Russia will have at the end of this is control of Eastern Ukraine and control of the Sea of Azov, together with land routes between Crimea and Russia and the oil fields there. All in all, that’s a pretty significant strategic gain. As long as Boris and The Big Guy don’t talk about those gains, I suppose they can define the result as a failure for Russia.
The only open question is whether Russia will go for Odessa and control over the northern shore of the Black Sea. If they want it, it is probably theirs.
must fail and be seen to fail” if it invades Ukraine,
This was a warning to Pooptin not to invade