Putin's evil and heinous war against Ukraine has been fought to a stalemate.
Yes, because of Ukraine's winter and spring, Russia had a respite and was able to mine their frontlines (and even miles behind the front lines). Since Ukraine did not have good minesweeping equipment, they weren't able to make large advances -- at the same time, even without minefields slowing them down, the Russians haven't been able to change the lines, either.
It will be interesting to see what happens this summer, as Ukraine now has some better minesweeping equipment and should have F-16s to help with the air war.
The USA and NATO should have stopped the war from happening. We should have led a crushing military defeat against Putin in the early months of the war.
And how much would have that cost? I have to think what we've currently spent (roughly 1% of our military budget, with 90% of the "Ukraine aid" spent in the US) is far less than what it would have cost to put combat troops in Ukraine -- not to mention the body bags of US soldiers and airmen.
But it is much too late for that military destruction of the significant majority of The Russian military, IMO.
Actually, many sources believe there is significant destruction of the Russian military. This is allegedly much of the reason Russia is sending conscripts as cannon fodder in Ukraine, and using little modern weaponry.
Putin is an evil tyrant we should have stopped. But we did not do that.
Therefore, looking at a stalemate that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, a better solution should be found. Instead, too many in our government are willing to keep on funding this heinous war.
So, despite the "evil and heinous war" we should reward Putin by giving him the parts of Ukraine that were his main objective in starting the war? I would have thought when we stood by and did nothing when Putin took Crimea, that we would have learned that Putin believes he can take what he wants because "The West" doesn't have the resolve to stop him. If we give him what he wants, I'd suggest it merely buys a couple of years of peace, at which point Putin decides to make his next move to "annex" more territory for Russia. It is only by Putin actually losing that he will learn he can't just march troops into an area and take it.
This situation reminds me of a popular definition of insanity.
I agree, the idea that a negotiated peace, that gives Putin what he wants, will keep Putin from starting the next war does seem a bit insane.
