For all the talk by Putin and his spokesmen that Russia is going to win the war in Ukraine, the penny has still not dropped that the West cannot afford to let him win so he is destined to fail. No wonder he wears bullet proof vests everywhere. He is going to be assassinated as the only way out for Russia. There are a few like Trump who call for an end to the Ukraine war and the US putting money into the “real challenge” ie China without realizing that China is looking at what we do in Ukraine to either encourage or discourage them taking Taiwan. End the war in Ukraine is code for letting Putin claim a win. Not surprising Trump would say this as a long time Putin admirer nor for the Trump supporters in the Republican Party who care more about wining elections than what’s good for America. The point is that what we spend in Ukraine is a drop in the bucket and vastly cheaper than what we spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a cheap way to keep a hostel power in check, learn about war in this century, and no American lives lost. Our defense industries love it. They need a reason to develop more and more advanced weaponry and Putin has given it to them on a plate. AND, it has woken up the Europeans to the need to build up their armed forces and spend more on defense. Trump correctly tried to get Germany etc to spend more and failed. Putin did not fail. And Finland joining NATO! Wow. everything Putin did not want to happen has happened or about to happen. What a win it will be for the Russians when he is finally eliminated. A huge sigh of relief will envelope the world and Russia can be on a winning streak again. China meanwhile has nothing to loose just sitting it out. They can keep the pressure on Taiwan and do nothing. Play the long game. Go to war, and as Putin found out, you may not get the result you bargained for. And for us in the USA, we can see Trump, his cronies and whatever their ideology was finally fade into the past. Hopefully the Republican Party will once again be a party of good sense.