Putin has nothing to gain by pulling back and nothing to lose by staying.
He’ll stay. We’ll be re-drawing our maps because he’s staying. Ukraine will have to decide if they are prepared to shed blood to reclaim it and I doubt that they will. That makes it a done deal.
Obama will vent his wrath on Netanyahu who is also making his calculations. He sees right through Obama and has from the beginning. Putin is letting the rest of the world see through him too. I’m thinking as bad as this is for Ukraine, this is good for Israel.
These maps have been drawn and redrawn many times throughout history with many entities holding interests. The key is allowing the natives to settle their differences without too much bloodshed. All too often, the criminals seize upon a chaotic situation and violence escalates. A true statesman would focus on that rather than a pissing contest.
It’s very hard for narcissistic amateurs to do much now, though.