Saying that we are forcing Putin to do anything is like saying that resisting to rape is forcing rapist to used more violence. The rapist already had a plan. T

Saying that we are forcing Putin to do anything is like saying that resisting to rape is forcing rapist to used more violence. The rapist already had a plan. There is actually a joke going on about all these "peace initiatives". The police officer is arriving to the crime scene and sees a rape in progress and says: Stop it! Both of you, stop it! It's nonsense. Nobody is forcing Putin to do anything he has not already planned to do. The fact that he only has few logical steps available does not mean that we are forcing him to make those - it's still up to him. He can actually stop this war right away. Nobody is forcing him to continue. Yes, he made up his mind already in 2007 the latest and yes, he miscalculated Russian army's ability to conduct military operations successfully. Thinking that somehow the West will accept his attempt to occupy other nations again is a grand delusion. But make no mistake - the "rotten West" has been the enemy figure for long time, the narrative that NATO is somehow surrounding Russia has been going on for long time. He chose to oppose the West, not to be friend with it. He did it very visibly. I saw the war coming already in 2009, when he started to rehabilitate Stalin in public. The war hysteria has been growing in Russia since then very rapidly. How to make Ukraine win decisively and fast? Just stop this half-assed support and start giving serious aid the Western economies should be capable of. It is the lack of Western will power that helps Putin to continue this war - he perceives that the West is still weak and he can win eventually. This war is fundamentally different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - we don't have to occupy Russia. This paradox is a street level wisdom from many people who have actual experience with Russians: if you are attacked, you have to attack back fiercely. If you don't, you are not respected (more precisely, you are disrespected and considered weak and exploitable), if you do, you are, if you win, they might very likely consider you as their friend. You can understand a Russians better when you think them as common white supremacist. Jews are bad, the West is bad because it is weak (lets immigrants, blacks in), and of course Chinese are bad because they are Chinese. Geopolitically Russia will be no super power, so it has to align with the West or with China. China doesn't see Russia as a partner, but as an exploitable token that can be used against the West. It has been always in the interest of Russia to align with the West where it has chance to be taken as an equal partner (mind you equal to other countries, not superior). Of course at the moment they must to a lot self reflection to get there but it's possible.