There is no real cost to the Russians in accepting terms that fall short of their initial objectives, and then restarting their military operations at a later date
Agathe Demarais on the precarious state of the Russian economy
Putin is always complaining about the West’s escalation, but he’s the one escalating, from the bombing of cities to the deployment of North Korean soldiers and, in this case, the use of an IRBM
Camille Grand on Russia’s unprecedented firing of an intermediate-range missile
Even with inspection and confirmation of liability, the difficulty of proving intent to harm remains, and it is precisely on this that rival claimants such as Mosca play