and...
The war will end when the US and the West tell Ukraine to end it.
OR...
The war will end when the Russians stop the invasion and withdraw.
Why is this not ALSO an option?
Ukraine is not Afghanistan. Russia shares a 1,500 mile border with Ukraine along with hundreds of years of history and culture. Russia will never give up Crimea. If I were to point to one indicator as to why Russia will not withdraw, it would be Putin's July 2021 article, "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians" Even if Putin were to depart, his successor would embrace Putin's beliefs about Ukraine.
On March 7, 2022 Russia issued Ukraine a list of conditions that it must follow to halt the invasion.
The demands include Ukraine ceasing military action, changing its constitution to enshrine neutrality, acknowledging Crimea as Russian territory, and recognizing the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states.
In the end, Ukraine will meet most of Russia's demands.
June 20 (Reuters) - Russia on Monday demanded that Lithuania immediately lift a ban on the transit of some goods to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
The Russian foreign ministry told the Lithuanian envoy in Moscow that if cargo transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of Russia through Lithuania was not restored, Moscow would respond to protect its interests.