Somehow the rest of the world made adjustments without Russian oil and gas. Thankfully the winter in Europe was warmer than usual.

It is plausible the Russians can be driven out of Ukraine. Russians have built their own version of a Maginot Line in occupied Ukraine. It need only be pierced in a few places to render the Russian soldiers helpless.

It is plausible that the Russian state will collapse politically soon.

So why should Ukraine cede for peace negotiations that will likely require surrendering territory to Russia, thus giving the current regime a victory?

Especially when that regime will use the "peace" to rebuild its army to take the rest of Ukraine a decade or two later.

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Undoubtedly, post-war Ukraine will be financed by the IMF. Wealthy Ukrainians and wealthy westerners know how to become a little wealthier when the IMF takes over this country's economy.

But not being able to rein in the IMF is a fault of western democracy. We really need to change this system.