"Pay attention when Mr. Goldman is speaking.
"Zelenskyy now accepts Ukraine neutrality, Lavrov accepts Ukraine sovereignty (minus some Russian control of Donbass, not to mention Crimea, I assume). That's the shape of a compromise, along the lines of Minsk II.
As Steve Bryen has been writing, that was the only basis for a negotiated solution before, and remains so now.
Russia originally proposed Minsk II;
the French and Germans signed on;
Washington opposed it.
- For all the blather about Russian Army incompetence, it looks like Putin is accomplishing his objective: Beat up Zelenskyy until he accepts Russia's original terms.
Of course, if you believe that Putin is a new Stalin who wants to restore the Russian Empire, his army hardly seems up to the job.
But if Putin's war aims are highly focused (keep Ukraine out of NATO and missiles far from the Russian border), he seems to be succeeding.
The cost well may be higher than he expected, but he can still sell oil and gas -- the Netherlands gas price has fallen by half since the crisis peak.
After the dust settles and the virtue-signaling loses its novelty value, Putin will have won."
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