It looks increasingly likely that the goal is to provoke Putin and subsequently denuclearize Russia, with Ukraine as a fireship ramming right into the middle of Russian heartlands. The plan is stupid, to say the least.

And this is called the Thucydides trapdoor. Btw, you may mistake Putin for Saddam Hussein or (gosh) Hitler, but insofar as he’s able he’s busy cosplaying Nikolai I from the times of Crimean war.

Still, we have a few signs that show that conflict may yet be hard-frozen. Proper peace treaty almost definitely has been already sabotaged by Britain et al. without recovery. Russia and Ukraine might stay formally warring states for the foreseeable future, just like Russia and Japan, but on much fiercer terms.