ANALYSIS. Russia is backing down, but that means the West is going to have a really hard time

It seems that Russia has turned the corner. That it then looks for an elegant way out of the swamp. The war served solely to liberate the Donbas, it is now called. It was never the intention to conquer cities like Kiev. That is good news in terms of human lives. But it also presents the West with a difficult choice. Between a persistent crackdown on Moscow, which also hurts it itself — or slacking off and waiting for Russia to kill elsewhere.

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