An End Game for Ukraine

Russia retreats somewhat east; NATO moves further east

Considerable intellectual energy has been invested in what Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to achieve with his terribly misguided invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The conventional wisdom, which I agree with, is that he expected to quickly conquer Ukraine; to replace the government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a Russian puppet regime; to end any thought of Ukraine joining either NATO or the European Union; to effectively return Ukraine to Russian subservience; and to take…