I'm rootin' for Putin to stop the shootin', lootin', and tootin', and if we're lucky, go the way of Rasputin.
But I doubt all this will happen. So, no bets from me.
In other words R_L, you think I'm right and it'll be Zelensky who leaves before Putin.
I'm glad at least that you want the war to stop, as that puts you
ish on the same page as those of us on the right side of the argument. The difference between us is that I want it to stop
today which could happen if the Biden administration says enough is enough and agrees to Putin's offer of peace talks. Sadly, that won't happen while the war serves their political aims and while it has some support and a lot of indifference from the prols. Fortunately, for two reasons, the picture is starting to change. Firstly, the political and military leadership know that the collective west are fast running out of money, weapons and ammo to send to Ukraine and that, sooner or later, they'll all but fizzle out. Soldiers on the ground aren't much use without the tools of their trade. Secondly, as the winter kicks in, questions will be asked by the hitherto compliant western MSM about why the U.S., U.K. and their allies are spending £$billions prosecuting a war they can't possibly win against a perceived foe who poses no threat to their national security, while their own people are freezing their brass monkeys off. That's when there'll be a shift in U.S. foreign policy. Suddenly, Ukraine will disappear from the headlines, the war will be yesterday's news and Zelensky will be thrown under a bus. (Enter Branson and a Virgin Atlantic flight to Necker Island.)
Russia will claim victory because they'll end up with at least the four regions they've already incorporated into the Russian Federation - plus a few more for good measure. The U.S. will claim victory as they'll assert (wrongly of course) that Putin's power base is greatly weakened and the west is now dependant upon it (the U.S.) for expensive shale gas rather than cheap Russian pipeline gas. As for those holding shares in Lockheed Martin and Raytheon etc. - they'll be laughing all the way to the bank. Meanwhile, the economies of European countries will/are completely fcuked and Ukraine - what's left of it - will be a complete basket case.
That, in broad terms, is how this will end. It's how these things always end. And the families on both sides of the conflict will be left wondering what the whole thing was about, why it happened and why negotiations weren't undertaken long before their sons, brothers and fathers lost their lives fighting a pointless war that should never have happened in the first place.
Tim.
