Even if Russia Captures Kyiv, Putin has Already Been Defeated After Starting Unwinnable War

"A problem in agreeing any ceasefire is that Putin’s invasion plan only made sense if Russian troops were welcomed by the Ukrainian population with open arms. Predictably, this did not happen but Putin made maximalist demands amounting to the unconditional surrender of the Ukraine government, denounced by Putin as “neo-Nazis”, and for the Ukrainian army to hand over their weapons. Lesser demands might have included a Ukraine promise not to join Nato and to recognise the annexation of Crimea.

This makes it difficult for Putin to simply withdraw without achieving any of his objectives in Ukraine and having paid a heavy price in sanctions, which will strangle the Russian economy for years to come. A key reason for Putin’s rise to power was that he appeared to guarantee that the Russian financial crisis of August 1998 would not be repeated, yet almost a quarter of a century later, he has ensured just that."

read article by PATRICK COCKBURN

Even if Russia Captures Kyiv, Putin has Already Been Defeated After Starting Unwinnable War - CounterPunch.org