For Ukraine, the war against Russia is existential. Defeat means extinction as a sovereign nation, and the destruction of Ukrainian identity.
Russia’s troubles, however, are self-inflicted. By invading Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin forced the West to impose a series of harsh sanctions aimed at squeezing the Kremlin economically, and ultimately, forcing a withdrawal from Ukraine.
The punishment that the administration of President Joe Biden and NATO allies imposed on Russia’s economy would have achieved the West’s aims, if it weren’t for Putin’s benefactor and bosom buddy, Chinese President Xi Jinping.
