You can get to one of these outcomes today or ten years from now. It’s the same choice Ukranians had in 2014, 2022, today and ten years from now. Being a proxy for the west in a fight with your nuclear neighbor was never a good idea. Too bad the poor Ukranian people, not the corrupt elites, didnt have a democratic say in this.
Russia knows that nobody wins a nuclear war or they would have used their nukes already. If the Republicans hadn't folded to Putin, the battle would likely be a stalemate. And winning on the battlefield doesn't mean winning the war. Historically, occupying forces have rarely succeeded in the long run.
