Putin has tremendous internal support, pressure from within his own close leadership hardliners to continue and any opposition from within is harshly dealt with. He is selling energy to China, Brexit nations, and sanctions are not working. Russia’s economy is not failing as most predicted. The support to Ukraine from NATO countries is expensive, not well managed, there is corruption within and the media is fed only pro-western information. Things in Ukraine are a whole lot worse than we see or hear from the media.
The above mentioned is not my opinion, it is the opinion of a few highly ranked intel officers, who I had the fortune of talking to at a recent function.
The general opinion is that Putin will continue this war indefinitely, the longer NATO countries supply weapons as support at great financial costs, the longer the war will continue. The current status, if maintained, will continue indefinitely.
Further, the belief is that the only way to end this war, would be through negotiation, where Ukraine will have to give up some territories, similar to Crimea and there is a guarantee from NATO to have no further membership countries added, close to Russia’s borders.
Personally, I believe if Trump gets into office, the above is what he will try to negotiate. If Biden gets into office, the current situation will continue for the next four years. With the latter, we may even see Taiwan be forced to become part of China, through whatever means.
