The exit from the Ukraine crisis that’s hiding in plain sight

For all its hysteria about imminent war, it’s clear that the Biden administration believes Putin is bluffing, that he won’t risk the economic damage that the threatened “severe sanctions” would impose. (Then again, neither will Germany or France.) If that’s right, and Putin doesn’t act, the result is continued low-level war in Donbas, with no end in sight. Russia keeps Ukraine out of NATO, with Ukraine having no chance of developing either a sound economy or a stable democracy. And of course, the danger is that Putin will face escalating pressure from more hawkish factions within Russia. It’s hard to envision why that should be considered a victory.