In the face of NATO’s inevitable reduction of armed support to Kiev as suggested by the New York Times’ latest report, which came a day before the Estonian Defense Minister admitted that the Russian military remains strong in spite of this proxy war, it makes perfect sense for all sides to secure their gains at this point in time.
Estonia is among the most Russophobic states on the planet, both in the political sense of always opposing that neighboring government as well as the ethno-bigoted one of openly discriminating against its nationals. It’s also one of NATO’s so-called “front line” states for militarily containing Russia so nobody could even remotely accuse its leadership of being biased in favor of the Kremlin. This background explains why the Estonian Defense Minister’s latest admission is so important.
According to Hanno Pevkur in comments that he shared with the US’ publicly financed and state-run “Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty” (RFE/RL) on Sunday, “We have to be honest and clear: The Russian Navy and Air Force are more or less as big as they were before the war.” This completely contradicts the basis of the weaponized information warfare narrative propagated by the US-led West’s Mainstream Media (MSM) since the start of the Ukrainian Conflict.
Although Russia’s special operation can be constructively critiqued on twenty points, none of them extend credence to that aforesaid false claim that its armed forces have been seriously weakened. Nevertheless, the MSM and its “fellow travelers” who blog in support of Kiev on social media have insisted that not only has that newly restored world power’s military been irreparably broken by NATO’s proxy war, but that it’s even supposedly on the brink of “Balkanization” because of it.
Nothing could be further from the truth as the Estonian Defense Minister himself candidly admitted, which should serve as a much-needed reality check for the US-led West’s Golden Billion. His surprisingly accurate assessment comes amidst the New York Times (NYT) report on Saturday that NATO’s limited military-industrial capacity will likely lead to inevitable reductions in armed support for Kiev, thus making it much more likely that a stalemate will eventually settle in along the Line of Control (LOC).
Russia would strategically win even in that scenario since the multipolar processes unleashed over the past nine months have made the global systemic transition away from unipolarity irreversible by this point, especially due to India’s accelerated rise as a Great Power of worldwide significance. That fait accompli and the counterproductive prolongation of this proxy war from the perspective of the US’ hegemonic interests suggests that it’s better for America to pursue a ceasefire as soon as possible.
The preceding insight doesn’t mean that the Ukrainian Conflict will soon end, but it adds context to the rumored discussions about exploring the parameters of a series of mutual compromises among all of its participants. In the face of NATO’s inevitable reduction of armed support to Kiev against the background of the Russian military having failed to be defeated by this proxy war as the Estonian Defense Minister just acknowledged, it makes perfect sense for all sides to secure their gains at this point in time.
Whether or not that’ll happen remains to be seen, but the scenario itself can no longer be dismissed out of hand considering the NYT’s latest report and that NATO official’s admission, which curiously occurred in sequence just a day apart. This very strongly suggests that efforts are underway to reshape popular Western perceptions about this proxy war’s end game away from the maximalist fantasy that folks were brainwashed into believing and closer towards a more realistic balance of interests between all.
Reality is setting in, at least for the next 5 or 6 months of winter..... during which Russia will seek to 'end the war' by crippling Ukraine infrastructure, and launch attacks to damage/destroy the US-NATO armed Azov survivors. Russia will have to be careful to not be suckered into more fake Minsk style agreements that neither the Ukrainian Nazis nor the US/NATO thugs might honour.
Dawning light in Estonia and the West yes. But all of Russia's armed forces reamain strong not just the navy and airforce. Probably stronger than at the beginning of the conflict. So " it makes perfect sense for all sides to secure their gains at this point in time." Why all sides? Europe yes. The United states maybe. Ukraine of course. But Russia? Any peace deal now would have to depend on the West not rearming the rump of Ukraine but there is no chance they would abide by any agreement, whatever they sign. They never have in the past so why now?
As Churchill put it when faced with another lot of nazis, Russia is condemned not to fail or falter, to go on to the end whatever the cost maybe, to finish the job in Ukraine for good. After that we will have to see how it pans out. There will be no lack of problems.
A failure of western support iwill not make it "much more likely that a stalemate will eventually settle in along the Line of Control (LOC)." What is much more likely is a mutiny of the Ukrainian infantry currently being driven at gun point into suicidal attacks on Russian positions. Let us not forget that Ukrainians have regularly voted for peace (and been promised it) but have been fooled into believing they could defeat Russia and that the the Russians are monsters.