Quote (ofthevoid @ 6 Feb 2024 19:11)
You're talking about non-acute issues. Not saying hyperinflation or the economy doesn't matter but continuing a war doesn't solve those issues, only exasperates them. At least in 45-47, Germans had some comfort because bombs no longer rained down on you nor your 18 year olds were sent to the front.
The actual key difference is that Germany had already lost the war by 1943 and any further fighting only delayed the inevitable. With Ukraine, it's different, there is no reason why it should be impossible for them to hold on to most of the territory they currently control.
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The reality on the ground right now that's on the table, is for the pro-Russian east to be yielded with something like 75-80% of the remaining country of Ukraine, hardly giving up sovereignty, hardly having your EU aspirations shut down. A loss for Ukraine today, doesn't mean Russia is getting a puppet in Kiev and there's a purge of all those that pushed for war. In reality, it's they lose the east and have to agree to it.
Quote (ofthevoid @ 6 Feb 2024 19:28)
[...] They kept asking for 1.Ukraine not be in NATO 2. Autonomy for pro Russian east.
Fast forward to today, those asks didn't materially shift. They still demand no NATO but now they're basically looking to keep the Donbass. To me that is the reality for condition of peace, with neither of those asks making the 80% of leftover Ukraine a vassal to Russia, that's why when people keep saying surrender all of Ukraine to Russia I scratch my head and think where is that ask actually coming from, because the Russians are actually telling you what they want.
Sorry, but I think you're being horrible naive here. Russia is not looking to get a puppet installed in Kiev yet again? This whole conflict started when the previous Russian puppet was booted from office back in 2014! They are only concerned about NATO, but Ukraine joining the EU would be totally fine for them? This whole conflict erupted over Ukraine signing an association agreement with the EU (which the parliament supported, but the president vetoed at the 11th hour), not NATO!
Generally speaking: if Russia is only looking to take what they alreay hold right now, why do they keep ferociously attacking Ukrainian frontlines, why do they keep shelling Ukrainian cities all across the country? Why did they just announce their long-term plans to drastically increase their military capacities over the coming years if their only goal is to hold territory which they just defended successfully with their current spending levels? Actions speak louder than words, and the Russian actions very clearly tell us that they have always wanted, and continue to strive for, more than the present-day status quo.