Russian troops are stalled for the third week outside most of the major cities of eastern and central Ukraine, but they have failed to surround and cut off any of them except Mariupol, the big port on the Black Sea that has become the Ukrainian "Stalingrad". Indeed, Ukrainian counter-attacks are driving the Russians back some distance in a few places.
This has come as such a surprise to most foreign observers (who expected Ukraine's army to crumble quickly before the greater numbers and firepower of the Russians) that some have now swung to the other extreme. I have seen three think-pieces this week urging Ukraine or Nato or somebody to start building an off-ramp for Vladimir Putin.
The thinking is that the Russian army cannot win, but the Russian dictator cannot afford to be seen to lose. Therefore, it's the other side's responsibility to create a "golden bridge" across which Mr Putin can retreat without admitting defeat and losing face. (The phrase comes from Sun Tzu's Art of War, written 2,500 years ago.)
