Most armed conflicts end not with a total victory but with messy compromises. This is especially the case when the objectives on either side are incompatible and both are escalating their efforts to secure a victory which is unachievable.
So it is in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and his western supporters demand the expulsion of all Russians from Ukrainian territory occupied since the beginning of 2014, while the Kremlin has said that while the Russian president, Vladimir Putin remains open to negotiations, Russia would not pull out of Ukraine.
