Zelensky to press Joe Biden for ‘Trump-proof’ security guarantees

Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the defence think tank Rusi, described the challenge facing Ukraine and its backers: “What is the viable choice that we’re going to force on the Russians so that they are prepared to compromise? Because that’s what you’re trying to do. “This is not deterrence. This is coercion. You have to raise the cost of the invasion to such an extent that Putin no longer sees it as viable — it’s just too expensive and too difficult. But that has to be so painful that it basically compels him to withdraw. But how do you inflict that kind of defeat on Putin that isn’t fundamentally existential for his regime; that sits below the level at which he adopts a scorched earth approach, or a major escalation against the Ukrainians, or that he doesn’t regard as being such a defeat that he fears it will cause the collapse of his government? What is the sweet spot?”