'I'll pull my dudes out of your country if you pull your dudes out of mine' is one possibility. A North Korea style ceasefire is another.
One thing is for certain, there's no easy way out of this for Putin. He either has to be able to claim some kind of success, or he will struggle to hold onto power in Russia. Of course, the end of Putin does not mean the end of Russia, so that is not as untenable as it sounds.
I just don't see how that's a possibility for the Russians. NATO and the west has made it very clear that as soon as the shooting stops, Ukraine is being brought in and some type of defense umbrella will be immediately enacted. At that point NATO is on Russia's doorstep and what happens when they lob shells or drones or partisans over the border? They just have to suck it up for the rest of time?
You can't just claim a small success and leave, the west has made it clear the only end of this war is the breakup/humiliation of Russia. At that point why not just keep fighting? Like Putin doesn't even have to make propaganda for his people, they are literally openly saying this every week.
At that point NATO is on Russia's doorstep and what happens when they lob shells or drones or partisans over the border? They just have to suck it up for the rest of time?
'The rest of time' is a lot longer than you think, but for the forseeable future? Yes, they will, just like North and South Korea have been sucking it up for 70 years. Just China and Taiwan have been.
Sucking it up is all you can do when you are beaten.
But how are they beaten though? They're still in Ukraine, their government hasn't collapsed in "two weeks" like they said it would, Putin is still in charge and not dying of cancer. And even though Ukraine is recieving billions of dollars weekly and huge weapon shipments daily the status quo hasn't changed an iota since Kherson.
If western governments truly believed the propaganda they put out they should be kicking back with a margarita right? Except they're not. They're reinforcing the Suwałki Gap. They're putting tens of thousands of troops in Eastern Europe. They're putting next generation fighter jets and AD in there as well. Why? Russia is down to using shovels because they're out of ammo supposedly right?
'I'll pull my dudes out of your country if you pull your dudes out of mine' is one possibility. A North Korea style ceasefire is another.
One thing is for certain, there's no easy way out of this for Putin. He either has to be able to claim some kind of success, or he will struggle to hold onto power in Russia. Of course, the end of Putin does not mean the end of Russia, so that is not as untenable as it sounds.
I just don't see how that's a possibility for the Russians. NATO and the west has made it very clear that as soon as the shooting stops, Ukraine is being brought in and some type of defense umbrella will be immediately enacted. At that point NATO is on Russia's doorstep and what happens when they lob shells or drones or partisans over the border? They just have to suck it up for the rest of time?
You can't just claim a small success and leave, the west has made it clear the only end of this war is the breakup/humiliation of Russia. At that point why not just keep fighting? Like Putin doesn't even have to make propaganda for his people, they are literally openly saying this every week.
'The rest of time' is a lot longer than you think, but for the forseeable future? Yes, they will, just like North and South Korea have been sucking it up for 70 years. Just China and Taiwan have been.
Sucking it up is all you can do when you are beaten.
But how are they beaten though? They're still in Ukraine, their government hasn't collapsed in "two weeks" like they said it would, Putin is still in charge and not dying of cancer. And even though Ukraine is recieving billions of dollars weekly and huge weapon shipments daily the status quo hasn't changed an iota since Kherson.
If western governments truly believed the propaganda they put out they should be kicking back with a margarita right? Except they're not. They're reinforcing the Suwałki Gap. They're putting tens of thousands of troops in Eastern Europe. They're putting next generation fighter jets and AD in there as well. Why? Russia is down to using shovels because they're out of ammo supposedly right?