The Quandary

In an article at Atlantic Charles Kupchan remarks:

With both sides doubling down, NATO must engage in a forthright dialogue with the Ukrainian government about its goals and how best to bring the bloodshed to a close sooner rather than later. Russia has already been dealt a decisive strategic defeat. Ukrainian forces have rebuffed the advance on Kyiv and retain control of most of the country; the West has hit Russia with severe economic sanctions; and NATO has reinforced its eastern flank, while Finland and Sweden now seek to join the alliance. For NATO and Ukraine alike, strategic prudence argues in favor of pocketing these successes rather than pressing the fight and running the tantamount risks.

I have no idea how that can be reconciled with the maximalist goals being articulated by all sides—not just the Russians and Ukrainians but Americans and NATO members as well. It appears to me that too many people are staking their political futures on those goals to be able to back down.

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