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Like most others I know, I was outraged when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 earlier this year.
The devastation has been horrific.
It was my hope the conflict would end soon, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Neither side can claim victory.
Nor, however, is either side defeated.
And though the bargaining table is only a short walk and the table isn’t nearly as long as the one Putin sits at in Russia, neither side seems inclined to take that walk again.
They have been at the table more than once before, only to walk away empty-handed.
And perhaps more than a little frustrated.
As Vladimir Putin, leader of Russia, once told a counterpart in the West at a conference: “Just because we look like you, don’t think we think like you. We don’t.”
Russia doesn’t seem to think like Ukraine, either.
The one thing Russia seems to understand is force.
Ukraine seems to understand it, too.
As sobering as such statements are, I think they reflect reality.
According to reports (one such, at this link):
