I’ve consistently said I don’t believe the propaganda coming out of either side in this war, eventually one side will give up and negotiate.
Agree. However, the level of corruption with Western assistance has given the Ukrainian oligarchs billions of dollars in incentives to not stop 1) the flow of money and 2) continue the conflict to hide the theft of money and materials (corruption).
Putin had largely achieved his goals prior to the start of the conflict but the West kept pushing and now NATO is on the doorstep - supposedly his overarching goal was to avoid this? His decision to begin the conflict does not appear rational to me.
War is the sacrifice of the young for the selfish goals of the old.
It won’t happen any time soon, but if I were Ukraine and I’m refusing to negotiate, I would accept the current situation and begin a guerilla war versus this conventional war that appears to be going nowhere.
Try to get Russia to pay a really high price for occupying territory by bleeding them by using a thousand cuts.
Just like in Iraq and Afghanistan, IEDs, Suicide Bombers, targeted assassinations, etc., anything to put the fear of god into Russian Soldiers
It is possible there will be a significant change in March 2023 when Putin turns over his position to a successor. Don’t know if it will be better or worse for Ukrine or the west. Some people don’t seem aware of this significant date which has already been posted and discussed here at FR.