I don’t think the war will end until Putin dies. Whether that be next week or in 20 years.
There’s no way for Putin to retreat and save face. The world can’t afford to allow Russia to win. It will be a horrible stalemate of slaughter until Putin dies and can be blamed by both sides, to be able to negotiate a way out.
I don’t think that scenario has such an optimistic outlook in store. The people in the best position to inherit the seats of power in the Russian state are Putin’s closest clique, who are, for the most part, ultranationalists, who would not only see their newfound power deligitimazed if they immediately signed peace, but would also be acting against their own ideology. Even if there are powerful people in Russia who would prefer to transition towards a different kind of country, they don’t have a clear route to reach power.
I don’t think the war will end until Putin dies. Whether that be next week or in 20 years.
There’s no way for Putin to retreat and save face. The world can’t afford to allow Russia to win. It will be a horrible stalemate of slaughter until Putin dies and can be blamed by both sides, to be able to negotiate a way out.
I don’t think that scenario has such an optimistic outlook in store. The people in the best position to inherit the seats of power in the Russian state are Putin’s closest clique, who are, for the most part, ultranationalists, who would not only see their newfound power deligitimazed if they immediately signed peace, but would also be acting against their own ideology. Even if there are powerful people in Russia who would prefer to transition towards a different kind of country, they don’t have a clear route to reach power.
I’m worried about Putin getting old and still in power in charge of the warfare.