Russia needs a big bloody nose. The longer it goes on the more likely they’ll eventually learn-didn’t help them in Afghanistan. It is a paranoid nation with a very bloody history. Ukraine is closer than Afghanistan and everyone is European. They’ll have a harder time accepting the costs. There were no cell phones in Afghanistan pre-1990.
Putin has set back normal international relations by at least 2 generations. IMO. During the early 90s American tourists were flocking to Russia, private companies were setting up shop. AG cooperation was in full swing...and on and on but then came Putin.
The reason is that portraying it as the world vs R is exactly what Putin wants.
Putin wants to frame this as a second "Great Patriotic war" for the motherland
This reminds me of 1920 -- the newly resurrected Polish army helped the Ukrainian army to capture Kyiv. The Bolsheviks then framed it as "The Poles are trying to conquer Russia again, like in 1610" and they got many White Russians to join the Red Army.
Don't play into Putin's hands. This war is Putin's war, not Russia's