Putin is isolated. Putin is cornered. Yes, that makes him desperate and dangerous. But it also makes him very vulnerable, and it presents an historic opportunity for freedom-loving peoples in Europe and around the globe. Including the Russian people. Maybe especially the Russian people.
We don’t hate the Russian people. And they don’t hate us. Far from it. In many ways they want to be us, ironically more than WE appear to want to be us right now.
Freedom. Economic opportunity. Self-expression. Personal happiness.
And as ruthless and murderous an autocrat as Putin has proved to be, the Russian people have nevertheless gotten a taste and a glimpse and a vision of better lives for themselves and their families. They’re not going to give that up. They are not going to let anyone roll the calendar back to pre-1991.
The Russian people will take care of this. They will need the aid of less-than-virginal bedfellows, such as the Russian oligarchy and the Chinese government. But they will get that aid. And they will take care of this.