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Agreed, although I don't think either are clear.
that's fair, although so far bi-lateral negotiations have achieved a "tentative agreement" for a humanitarian corridor from certain cities so that Ukrainians can flee the country without getting killed on the way out. Which illustrates your second point, that currently Putin is writing the agenda.
On the Fiona Hill thing; evidence that we have so far seems to suggest that resistance is leading to escalation. Happy to be corrected on that one, it's just how it appears from what I'm seeing.
ChasnotRobert-
On the Fiona Hill thing; evidence that we have so far seems to suggest that resistance is leading to escalation. Happy to be corrected on that one, it's just how it appears from what I'm seeing.
Hey I've no idea really but I think this is what you'd expect - Ukraine chose to resist, short term escalation is inevitable, but the price for Putin's goal has ratcheted up exponentially. That's the steel.
Jung
Agreed, although I don't think either are clear. I suspect that Ukraine have in a sense already changed Putin's policy by being dramatically more effective in resisting than anyone in his administration had imagined. I think it was Fiona Hill that described Putin's foreign policy along the lines of the Lenin quote: 'you probe with bayonets: if you find mush, you push, if you find steel, withdraw.'
Hopefully that Ukrainian resistance along with a far more co-ordinated and severe program of global sanctions will make him withdraw quickly. Ukraine and Russia are already negotiating but it's really in Putin's hands at the moment.