Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Recently, I was asked to comment on the Russia-Ukraine War its current status on the battlefield and which side had the upper hand. And my response was that I simply didn’t know. I’ve heard the narrative that Ukraine is reeling and that Russia may soon “win” but I’m not sure how “experts” know this. Both sides, Russia and Ukraine, are lying about the war, so reliable information is hard to come by. Here, for example, is a video between LTC (Ret.) Danny Davis and Professor John Mearsheimer. They both think Ukraine is losing. Are they right? I don’t know. Articles about the war are often polemics for one side or the other. Here in America, the most common framing is that Russia is solely to blame for the war, that Ukraine must be supported, and that Ukraine’s defeat would embolden Vladimir Putin to expand further, perhaps into NATO countries. Another narrative, not common in the USA, places the blame almost entirely on NATO expansion as driven by the U. S., with Ukraine as a proxy to weaken Russia in a debilitating war of attrition. Articles about the war often become exercises in cheerleading and wishful thinking. I’ve always favored a diplomatic settlement to stop the killing and also because I fear this war could widen and escalate, possibly leading to World War III. I have friends who think Russia *must* be stopped and therefore Ukraine *must* be supported, and they say this in part because they fear Russia will be emboldened by success in Ukraine and Putin will seek to create a new Russian empire at the expense of Europe. But I see little evidence that Putin is “the next Hitler” (or “the next Stalin”). That doesn’t mean I think he’s the next Mother Teresa. War is inherently unpredictable, and Russia remains a country with an immense nuclear arsenal. The wise policy is to find a way to end the war so that Ukraine survives, Russia stands down yet feels un-threatened by NATO expansion, and both sides can begin to heal. With all the challenges facing us as humans on this beleaguered planet, we really must find a way to stop killing each other in seemingly endless wars. Readers, what do you make of all this?.
https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2025/11/18/the-russia-ukraine-war-rages-on/
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