>, you lose absolutely nothing pursuing a diplomatic end to this. [...] There's no downside. But your simplification of "losing absolutely nothing" is not how

>, you lose absolutely nothing pursuing a diplomatic end to this. [...] There's no downside. But your simplification of "losing absolutely nothing" is not how Ukraine sees it. Because Russia (currently) has the upper hand in military strength, a "diplomatic end" means ceding more territory to Russia including the southern Black Sea coastline. Becoming a landlocked country beholden to Putin would be a big downside. Proposed solutions to end wars are "easy" if one over-simplifies the problem. Notice that your option #3 (diplomatic end) actually overlaps with your #1 (Russia rule) based on today's military situation. #1 & #3 are not mutually exclusive choices.