While something could be said about the role of US in starting the war, it is entirely a decision of Russia's leadership. There is a war, because Putin wanted a war. It is as simple as that.
Europe's sins are extremely weak leadership at the moment and to some degree defragmentation of priorities. I have to give it to Putin, he did put an enormous amount of effort to break up the west. At the expense of Russians IMHO, but nevertheless results are evident.
Something tells me though that however the Ukraine "deal" ends, it won't be the end of wartime in Europe. As far as I read the other day drafting continues in Russia across all Oblasts with large sums of money paid to people signing up. Appeasement never works.
edit: typos
How so?
>Something tells me though that however the Ukraine "deal" ends, it won't be the end of wartime in Europe.
It won't be the end. The West will rearm Ukraine and it will be only the question of time when they start new "Anti-Terrorist Operation" in the Eastern Ukraine.
>As far as I read the other day drafting continues in Russia across all Oblasts with large sums of money paid to people signing up. Appeasement never works.
It's not drafting. People signing contracts are volunteers -- Ukraine gave Putin a great gift by invading Kurskaya oblast and really pissing off ordinary Russians.
Well, yeah, but it didn't start in 2022 -- the Ukraine was building up its military and the West was training them.
But it didn't even start in 2014 -- have a look at this:
Here is George Bush Sr. in 1991 talking in Kiev:
"They [Americans] will not aid those who promote a suicidal nationalism based upon ethnic hatred." [0]
But then Bush was gone and new presidents thought otherwise with their efforts culminating in 2014:
"The night before the clashes, Right Sector called on all of its members to ready themselves for a "peace offensive" on 18 February. The Maidan People's Union also urged all concerned citizens to take part in the "peace offensive", which student unions had agreed to join as well. The Maidan Union reported on the morning of 18 February that columns of protesters would begin a march on parliament at 08:30.
That morning, around 20,000 demonstrators marched on the parliament building as that body was set to consider opposition demands for a new constitution and government. Around 09:45, the demonstrators broke through the police barricade of several personnel-transport trucks near the building of the Central Officers' Club of Ukraine and pushed the cordon of police aside. The clashes started after some two dozen demonstrators moved a police vehicle blocking their path to parliament." [1]
"Right Sector is a loosely defined coalition of right-wing to far-right Ukrainian nationalist organizations." [2]
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkjxf76xRTw
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_of_Dignity#Protest_...
Perhaps it shouldn't.
The madman theory posits that a leader who behaves as if he could do just about anything has a better chance of persuading other global actors to make concessions they otherwise would not make.
Whether the leader of a superpower should be adopting such a strategy is a different debate ...