Russia and Ukraine

[The Grand Nudger]

Russia has been losing territory for years now, not gaining it - and they ran out of meat before the first north koreans arrived. The availability of weapons doesn't play a major role to russia because they a - don't have them..and b - don't expect much of their remaining troops. It's incompetence, grift, and dereliction - not a strategy or a strength. Case in point..ukraine.

Russia clearly cannot force it's war goals on kyiv militarily - they failed to do that at the height of their strength and of ukraines weakness. There aren't enough men or pieces of armor on earth to make it to kyiv by the numbers. Putin needs a third party to force his preferred outcome on ukraine. He had hoped china would do as much. He said their relationship had no limits. They immediately demonstrated that it did. That leaves the donald..but it's harder to get the us to do a thing then making friends with potus and donald doesn't need and can't use putin anymore. They made alot of noise about that too. Their trumpushka being a man who owed people things and would have to pay up. Like they'd never met him.

If ukraine surrendered today and agreed to putins maximalist demands russia would still be screwed. It's not a leading entity against anything and couldn't be for a generation or more. This assumes a massive improvement in the quality of leadership to dig their way back out, and that doesn't look like it's in the cards for them either.