Subject: ceasefire??? (Ukraine)
Putin is quietly hinting he would be open to a ceasefire.
I'm nestled in my (relatively) safe home in Arizona. Just adding that for context. I think (from 12000 miles away) that Ukraine shouldn't give up.** Russia has seized a sizable chunk of territory, plus Crimea, that they have no right to. The ceasefire benefits them greatly, both in terms of territory, and in regrouping and resupplying their battered military. Plus any discontent in Russia will likely wane when young Russians stop coming home in coffins, which also helps Putin.
On the other hand, my backyard isn't full of mines, and I'm not experiencing missile strikes every day.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/1...
Mr. Putin has been signaling through intermediaries since at least September that he is open to a cease-fire that freezes the fighting along the current lines, far short of his ambitions to dominate Ukraine, two former senior Russian officials close to the Kremlin and American and international officials who have received the message from Mr. Putin’s envoys say.
In fact, Mr. Putin also sent out feelers for a cease-fire deal a year earlier, in the fall of 2022, according to American officials. That quiet overture, not previously reported, came after Ukraine routed Russia’s army in the country’s northeast. Mr. Putin indicated that he was satisfied with Russia’s captured territory and ready for an armistice, they said.
**Assuming WE don't give up on THEM, and continue funding them.