Russia still likes to think of itself as a "superpower", they hate it when they have to face the harsh reality.

Well, doesn’t seem like they are going quietly into the night.

The major difficulty when fighting Russia is how they ignore their own losses, any Western country counting such losses would have had to pull back long ago.
Their best troops were thrown into Kyiv and other key targets in the NW where they suffered big losses, injuries, demoralisation and eventually withdrew.
Now they are mostly relying on a second tier who suffer heavy losses when advancing but nobody cares.
If they call on reservists then they will be a third tier who will have to pay an even heavier price to gain ground.

I'm not sure why Macron said what he said. Did he want to show Russia an olive branch?
Sure, if he thinks that would help, but.....

I can't really blame him for trying.

some are recruited from Ukraine so even if they die, it's still a win-win for Putin.

Macron said at the same time '"I am convinced that it is France's role to be a mediating power".

Not France but US is calling the shots by the sheer amount of arms delivered to Ukraine, about 10x of France.

France is "a power" perhaps in Africa. This fit of past grandeur phantom pain could be blamed by the oncoming French legislative elections.

and as long as its only rusians and ukrainians dying its still a win-win for the west too.

That's only because no one has asked the East and the South their opinions If Russia keeps investing resources in a long war, China will have a docile ally.

Did you know that CH is the US', Iran's and Russia's protecting power?

Though the above is not a joke, some things should nonetheless not be taken too literally. Especially when it comes to diplomacy.

I read somewhere that of all Russian males born in 1921 and 1922 not one survived the war. You are correct, Russia has a history of throwing men and material into war regardless of the consequences.
I believe that "the west" is too squeamish to fight a war with Russia, against an enemy much weaker not much of a problem, the few body bags coming back from such conflicts are quickly forgotten about and the true horrors of war wont be reported by the "embedded" reporters, also I think that most people are too disinterested to trawl through hours of youtube and TikTok footage to find out what is going on.
The US learned not to let journalists report freely in Vietnam.
But a conflict with Russia will have the body bags sent back in droves and that cant be hidden away.

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Back in Bavaria, god´s own belly button.

These are the hard parameters the West needs to confront, and they need to understand that risks of escalation will be inevitable. But the standing back on the sidelines feeding weapons into the confiict is simply delaying the inevitable

*The longer this war continues, the worse it will be for both Russia and the world. People are starving globally, inflation is rising, and stable governments are quickly becoming unstable.
*Putin is counting on the West remaining conflict-averse
*Putin is never satisfied in defeating his enemies, he feels the need to crush them. Doing the same to him is the only way he will be defeated.
*Ukraine will be exhausted of troops before Russia
*Russian fight a brutal war...scorched earth, kill, rape, pillage. Rinse, repeat.
*Russia is at risk of becoming insular...not quite a North Korea but sufficient to ensure a endless loop of strongman dictators.

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So sayeth the 'Speed
* I do look like my avatar

It looks like the West needs to think of Russia more than Putin does, currently, or everyone else in his circle. I don't think it's fair.

Of course everyone wants peace and non-escalation, but shouldn't they also show some resemblance of willingness? I don't watch Russian tv but I wonder how can this war escape the public opinion, why nobody does anything. They must know the losses. Yes, you're afraid, but at some point you rise up....

There are some imaginative solutions around for shipping grain from Ukraine, what sort of volumes they can manage in war conditions is a good question.

I saw this interview of a former US Marine Corp Colonel and former Republican Senator talking about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and was shocked by how pro-Russia and anti-US it was.

All you need to know about this gentleman:

In April 2014, Black sent an official letter to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, thanking "the Syrian Arab Army for its heroic rescue of Christians in the Qalamoun Mountain Range", praising Assad for "treating with respect all Christians and the small community of Jews in Damascus," and stating it was obvious that the rebel side of the war was largely being fought by "vicious war criminals linked to Al Qaeda" Democratic State Senator A. Donald McEachin called the letter "bizarre," while Republican State Senator Bill Stanley later joked "What's the matter, Dick? Was Kim Jong-un not returning your text messages?".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Black_(politician)

Obviously on the same Putin payroll as Trump

Russia seems incapable of reconciling with the end of the empire and is unable to try to reach an equal relationship with its former colonies, and still supports the imperial myths that it was well received in the territories it occupied. Well, of course it was well received and still is by the Russian ethnics.

The main difference between France (or Spain, Great Britain and all those that had colonies somewhere far away is that they apologized and helped their former colonies. Russia rejects any mistake and says that its subjugation was as necessary as it was welcome.

Secondly, they have open societies and open political systems. Britain, Spain and France are thriving democracies with well-established freedoms. They feel comfortable with differences of opinion and have a thick cheek when faced with differences. Russia threatens them with nuclear missiles.

Thanks. His bio has all what you'd expect from a Republican e.g. anti-abortion etc.. His support of Syria makes sense now from the viewpoint of supporting Christianity and opposing Islam and ISIS/Al-Qaeda.

I haven't listened to this interview till the end but I agree with him in one aspect: Russia was incredibly blessed with natural resources (and also super talented people, if you ask me, too bad they usually leave Russia) and has everything they need to thrive.
Instead of focusing on that what they do though.....and is it really the West's fault? Also, he didn't mention a word about what they currently do in the war in Ukraine. He seemed candid but he ignores the realities of the ongoing war in Ukraine? WTF?

yes the west has gotten too decadent and individualistic to go to war proper. thats why they need to use ukranians to do the job for them.