And you even write that $x makes hard things easy. Hope much did the US pay to lose against Iran? Winning against anyone for the same sum isn't easy.
Russia is not fighting Ukraine, Russia is fighting NATO. And we are in dangerous territory.
Emmanuell Todd predicted this and this is not a person to be taken lightly (e.g. predicting the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1976 as a 26 years old PhD student): https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2024/11/how-the-west-was-...
We need just a few more sanctions against Russia and we will have a Regime change. The regime change will come, but likely different than we thought - AfD in Germany, Farange in the UK and LePen in France.
Russia thought the Ukrainians wouldn't put up much resistance and launched a war of conquest to prevent Ukraine from joining the EU. It's failed in it's gamble and it has to experience the consequences.
Russia often reforms only after military defeat exposes how badly the state and army are failing: Crimea pushed the Great Reforms, Japan helped trigger 1905, and Afghanistan plus the Cold War strain fed the Soviet collapse. Loss forces changes that peace lets the system avoid. And maybe we'll get a conciliatory government not an aggressive one doubling down.
Yeah there was something with Cuba. America attempted the same thing in Cuba as the 2014 Ukraine rebellion Russia fomented and equipped, but instead of failing in 8 years, it utterly failed immediately and the Americans didn't decide to double down on their failure and actually invade like Russia has. America then allowed Cuba to be a Soviet ally, for everything except for forward deployed nuclear weapons which it then removed from Turkey.
Unfortunately you are correct, as Ruski Mir's greatest export is corruption.
The West suffers from the Paradox of Tolerance, and is generally unprepared to deal with Moscow's political operations.
The good news is that those are just three countries, and the EU is made of many more.
The crazy thing to me is that all that Europe wants is for Moscow to join us in the 21st century, and just stop murdering your neighbors.
Apparently this is too much to ask of the old guard. But, we all went through this and eventually became "normal countries." Russia will as well one day, and the Russian people will be one of the greatest beneficiaries of this maturation.
Emmanuel Todd: "Russia has won the war, the Ukrainian army is in its death throes" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2zI3vzLKmao
Or use pass paywalls clean plug-in.
Denmark has give all her ammunition to Ukraine.
There is little of equipment left. And nobody willing to fight in the West. For what? For a crumbling economy? Unaffordable house prices? Collapsing social systems because two many immigrants draw from them? (Germany, UK)?
Good luck mate. I am not going to fight.
The "Monaco Battalion" (Batysalion Monako) is not an official military unit, but rather an ironic nickname given by Ukrainian media (such as Ukrainska Pravda) to a network of wealthy Ukrainian oligarchs, politicians, and businesspeople. This group relocated to the French Riviera to sit out the war.
Have the efforts of the Ukrainian anti corruption agencies and the defence of them by the Ukrainian public made any impression on you?
I'm interested in the criteria that you judge a country of not deserving of aid, especially since it is in the interests of the donor countries that Ukraine not be conquered.
Google AI:
[1] The European Union and its member states have provided a total of €215.2 billion in overall support to Ukraine and its people since the start of Russia's war of aggression "Since the start of Russia's war of aggression, they have provided €215.2 billion in support for Ukraine and its people.", as reported by the Consilium of the European Union.
As of mid-2026, the United States Congress has made available $195 billion in total spending related to the war in Ukraine.
[2] Ukraine scored 36 out of 100 points in the latest Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), ranking 104th out of 180 countries. While the country’s rating has improved in recent years, ongoing wartime procurement and defense-sector scandals point to continued high-level corruption risks.
Behind most EU candidates: The average score for EU candidate countries is 39. Nations like Montenegro (46), Moldova (42), and Albania (40) are all perceived as cleaner than Ukraine.
[3] Ukraine is one of the poorest countries in Europe by both individual and national wealth standards, largely due to historical factors and the massive economic toll of the full-scale war. Global Standing: On the global stage, Ukraine ranks 94th
Also, supplying Ukraine is a cheap way to prevent similar invasions from happening in the future.
After blowing up the energy supply of Germany....