Originally Posted by Pierre

Russia is not going to win their objective, similarly Ukraine seems unlikely to be able to repel Russia. This is just going to continue to cost money and lives.

Interestingly, Trump was interviewed recently. He famously said, previously, that he would stop this war in 24hrs.

He was asked how he would do this. I’m paraphrasing but it was basically this:

I know Zelenskyy and I know Putin even better. They need to stop fighting and talk.

I would say to Zelenskyy, you either talk or we will remove all support.

I would say to Putin, you either talk or I will give Zelenskyy everything he needs and more.

Seems, reasonable to me.

I know the stance has been total victory for Ukraine, return to pre-2014 borders, which has never been realistic.

The realistic solution is a win for both sides. Russia gets territory, to be negotiated.

In return for that, Ukraine gets NATO membership.

Russia sells the Win of re-Russianing the territory they get.

Ukraine gets the win of this not ever happening again, as a NATO member.

Trump at least has a plan that doesn’t involve Cluster Bombs. Perhaps others may consider it.

Originally Posted by Chris

The cash value of US support for Ukraine is also being wildly overstated. It is derived from the notional value of old munitions and equipment that in many cases was reaching the end of its shelf life and would have to have been disassembled and disposed of before long. That’s not to say the US hasn’t sent a whole lot of stuff, it clearly has - but it is important to see that relatively, European support is at parity and could actually be greater. Trump simply can’t disarm Ukraine in the way he thinks he can. In fact, any American attempt to do so would be likely to result in an even more emphatic response from Eastern European states which have formerly been in the Russian sphere of influence, fully understand what a murderous place that is to be, and do not want any part of Ukraine left in it.

In fact, if Trump wants direct, boots-on-the-ground support for Ukraine by Poland and perhaps others, attempting to cut off US support is probably the likeliest way to achieve it.

Ukraine will settle for nothing less than complete restoration of its internationally recognised borders, as established in 1991, because it correctly sees Crimea and the Donbas as launch pads for future Russian interference.