The original Minsk agreements look like a good deal now. The Putin should have known it was just another classic NATO stall tactic, so they could arm and train Ukrainian meat to throw into the grinder.

I agree, the longer things drag on, the more grinding Russia has to do, taking territory as it goes. But the West can launder more money in that time. So everybody wins, apart from Ukrainians. But yet another periodic Ukrainian cull shouldn't come as a surprise.