Bernd 01/24/2023 (Tue) 22:21 No.49679 del
What is Putin's endgame now? Starting from the premise that the purpose of this war was to prevent a large, NATO-aligned state at Russia's border, it now seems like any outcome will be a failure, even if they can consolidate present territorial gains. If an armistice began right now, with Russia keeping everything it got so far, it could be said to have lost, as Ukraine would be permanently revanchist and dedicated to rearmament. In this situation, the best Putin could hope for would be to cripple Ukraine's economy and infrastructure as deep as he could, but that's the most cynical possible endgame. It's also the last nail in the coffin for "pan-Russianism", the whole idea of bringing together Ukrainians and Russians as brothers in one nation. Ukraine has become more of a "real" nation than it ever was, in a sense, Putin "created" Ukraine just like Hitler "created" Israel.
On the other side, Ukraine can hardly be said to have won in this scenario. Maybe a phyrric victory. Western governments and military-industrial complexes are the only ones who might "win".