The war in Europe is developing in the most predictable direction: towards a dead end, because neither Putin can afford to lose him (for an autocrat, that would be a real suicide), nor can the West let Moscow get away with it.
Everything could be expected from an unprincipled populist like Putin, but it can be imagined that he would act with a certain moral restraint, with codes of values from the West. Yet anything that leads to a Gordian knot, prolonging the conflict, a stalemate that spreads bitterness and desolation among rivals and condemns us Westerners to grave economic loss and unbearable psychological suffering is fraudulent.
In fact, the West is supplying the Ukrainian military forces with resources and weapons properly graded to ensure a slight advantage over the enemy army (if this had happened, Russia would have responded with terrible threats). But at the same time, it remains Russia’s biggest client, which is willing to continue to provide massive amounts of resources to wage war in exchange for hydrocarbons vital to its industries and well-being. Especially as Germany has lost its shame and Ukraine is on fire, various political actors, including the self-styled liberals of the FDP, are proposing the opening of Nord Stream 2 to make things easier. Government parties opposed this inappropriate gift to Russia, but it is not surprising that citizens reacted with anger to the generalized ethical abandonment that a bloody war is being developed, the victims of which we are about to forget.