"They look at the Russians with fear. Their fear comes from several reasons. There are more than a hundred million Russians. The Russians know all the languages ​​of the West, all the past of the West and all the intentions of the West. The West knows nothing
Russian. Hence the West's fear of Russia."

F.M. Dostoyevsky

Putin:

"Lately, statements have been heard in the West that Russia should be defeated on the battlefield in Donbass - let them try, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the leadership of the State Duma and leaders of the factions".
"They tell us that we started the war in Donbas, in Ukraine. No, it was precisely the collective West that started it, organizing and supporting the unconstitutional armed coup in 2014 in Ukraine, and then encouraging and justifying the genocide of the people in Donbass. That same collective West is the direct instigator, the culprit of what is happening today," Putin stated.
The West failed to sow discord in Russia
"The West has not succeeded and will not succeed in sowing discord and disorder in Russia, Putin said.
Obviously, they didn't just try to hit the Russian economy - their goal was to sow discord, unrest in our society, to demoralize people. But they were wrong there too - nothing worked and I'm sure it won't", said the Russian leader.
"Western countries do not need Russia as a state, which is why they supported separatism, terrorism, internal destructive forces and the fifth column in Russia.
All of them received and continue to receive the unconditional support of that collective West", he pointed out.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1545347910895820801

athos wrote on Jul 9^th, 2022 at 12:52pm:


But the world is in a terrible place, while war remains legal.

Already a $trillion in damage in Ukraine, with a war of attrition in which Russia will increasingly come up against NATO's (ie US) superior military-arms  productive capacity., while the  Russian and Ukrainian death tolls keep rising.

(Putin must be aware of how the mujahideen in Afghanistan defeated the USSR).

Does Putin have to keep fighting, hoping  Europe (and the US)  will descend into economic and political chaos, as energy prices sky-rocket?

And then there's China,  and the US who wants to drag China into the conflict via US sanctions.

Anyone for an international rule-based system, in the age of MAD?

(Rhetorical question; it remains to be seen if homo sapiens is a viable species...)