Opinion: Does Putin want a diplomatic solution in Ukraine? It's not looking that way.

[Uncle Joe]

(snip)

U.S. officials believe that some of Putin’s advisers see danger ahead if Putin invades but they aren’t able to get this message to the boss. The sanctions that would follow an assault on Ukraine would make it hard for Russia to sell its energy abroad or to buy the technology it needs to supply its defense industry, let alone the rest of the economy. Russia’s financial reserves are large, but they would quickly be depleted as it sought to bolster its currency and pay its bills. U.S. officials reckon that under sanctions, Russia would be starved of inputs, and China, its only major ally, couldn’t fill the gaps.

President Biden has looked for a pathway for Putin to back away from this crisis. In a phone call Saturday with the Russian leader, Biden is said to have countered Putin’s claims that the West doesn’t address his security concerns by summarizing the ways America is prepared to discuss shared stability for Europe. To Putin’s insistence that the United States ignores Russia’s “red lines,” Biden counseled continued dialogue. The leaders talked about follow-on meetings, but no real channel for discussion has opened yet.

An impasse remains on Putin’s fundamental demand for a NATO guarantee that Ukraine won’t ever become a member. A statement by Ukraine’s ambassador to London that Kyiv was ready to give up its aspirations for NATO membership was quickly disavowed Monday by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government in Kyiv. But even on this question, formulas may be found to finesse the difference — stating the widely understood reality that Ukraine won’t join NATO any time soon without formally guaranteeing it.

Putin’s course may already be set for Kyiv. It’s hard to imagine that he has moved a vast army to the Ukraine border twice in the past year, only to retreat. Only Putin knows what he will do next in this self-created crisis. But even he can’t answer the classic question: Tell me how this ends?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/14/diplomatic-solution-putin-biden-ukraine/

How about Ukraine joins NATO when Russia does?

Of course both nations would need to meet NATO's minimum requirements but they could come in as a pair.

It saves face for everyone involved.

[SheltieLover]

1. Nobody wants Russia in NATO.

[Uncle Joe]

8. Well sometimes it can hurt the psyche to be the black sheep of the family.

[SheltieLover]

13. Putin made his bed

Let him wallow in it. Bully!

[Uncle Joe]

14. I wasn't referring to Putin

so much as the Russian people.

[SheltieLover]

15. Oh, I feel so badly for them

But one doesn"t get an invite by being a world-class jerk.

[Uncle Joe]

16. The invite would most definitely be conditional, at some point

before Russia could join NATO, they would need to be much closer to a democracy and Putin will most likely not be in power then.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Been reading and listening to "experts" on Putin and...

while they all have good-sounding rationals (well, almost all) for their thinking, it all boils down to...

"We don't have fucking clue. Only Putin knows, if even he knows."
.

[elleng]

3. No, he wants to be Emperor, turning 70 soon.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

5. Czar nt

[elleng]

7. Right

[Crowman2009]

17. Well that isn't going to go over well with the large percentage of communists in Russia.

Something tells me that reviving the royalty will cause another Russian civil war.

[Crowman2009]

18. Well that isn't going to go over well with the large percentage of communists in Russia.

Something tells me that reviving the royalty will cause another Russian civil war.

[Pantagruel]

4. The whole point of NATO

was to discourage Russian aggression, I thought?

[Uncle Joe]

6. What better way

to deter it than incorporate it...under the proper conditions?

[zipplewrath]

9. About as well as the UN security council

I'm afraid it would work about as well as the UN Security Council, upon which Russia sits. It would just empower them to gum up the works.

[Uncle Joe]

11. It could be required they become a democracy first or a close enough facsimile thereof,

all borders with every nation would have to be agreed to as well.

Putin could go out in a blaze of glory as their George Washington should he actually transition to such a thing but if he doesn't, he; like everyone else can't live forever.

I'm trying think as to why a democratic Russia would want to gum up their own security because that would be the end result should they be able to join NATO?

[zipplewrath]

10. Biden has maneuvered well

The steps that have been taken, have really cut Putin off from many of his possible actions. Unfortunately, it also has had the effect of basically cornering him. He either backs down, or he attacks. I suspect he'll delay for as long as he can to try to find some avenue of escape. To a great degree, Biden may have to "invent" one for him.

[Uncle Joe]

12. I agree zipplewrath,

that's why I believe a Ukraine statement to that effect could serve all parties' stated needs.

It saves face, insures Ukraine's security, and give Russia hope for a better future as well.