I'm part Slavic(50% Polish),so are Serbs,Czechs,Slovacs,Bulgarians,etc.,while I understand the historical the historical ties w/Ukraine/Russia a little,the Russians have always looked down on them,Stalin even tried to starve them out and the majority of Ukraine wants complete independence from Russia.I grant that in Eastern Ukraine a good amount of people identify w/Russia and also I know Russia ceded Crimea to Ukraine in the Soviet days when it was just a formality. Crimea is a very vexing issue and is key as it controls the Black Sea and without it Russia is screwed in power projection. This whole thing is a nightmare and Putin has staked his political survival on it while he sits on the world's largest inventory of nukes. Negotiation is the only option to resolve this and both sides are doubled down on complete victory. A complete defeat of Russia without nukes being unleashed is a pipe dream IMO,especially w/Putin alive and calling the shots,initial hopes of a coup in light of the abject failure of the initial invasion have sadly been dashed. In our justifiable hopes for a Russian defeat we seem to be overlooking the end game,we certainly can't have Russia conquer and control the whole Ukranian state while also understanding a complete Russian defeat looms ominous. It's going to take a hell of a mediation process to foster a final result agreeable to both sides that ends this while also preventing future hostility,in the absence of Putin being overthrown (the window seems closed),Good luck.
