Feb 08, 2026
3 min read
The price of Russia's military failure will begin to be paid if aid to Ukraine is not stopped
How were you when the last Winter Olympics opened?Do you remember that?President Vladimir Putin, of course, because on February 4, 2022, as we all know, he flew to Beijing.Went to meet President Xi Jinping to wish him good luck at the Olympics.and signed a joint statement with him promising that Russia and China would work together to end Western hegemony in world affairs.That's all.twenty days laterImmediately after the closing ceremony of the Olympic GamesRussia invades Ukrainesince thenAbout 1.8 million people were killed or wounded, two-thirds of them more or less Russian soldiers.
As they watch the Milan Cortina Olympics, some, including Donald Trump in particular, may dream that talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in Abu Dhabi will soon lead to a peace deal.If so, they'd better brace themselves for a rude awakening.After four years of costly but incompetent subversion that resulted in meager territorial gains, Putin shows no interest in peace.So the real question is: Will the war in Ukraine continue when the next Winter Olympics open in France in 2030?
Leon Trotsky happily wrote: "You may not be interested in war, but war is interesting to you."Ukraine's important task is to reverse this Russian claim and force Putin to realize that peace is in his interest and retaliation is in his and Russia's interest.
Trump realizes this, but when it comes to dealing with a nuclear power, he is so weak compared to what he thinks of his favorite adversaries—in Venezuela, Iran, or Minneapolis—that his only plan so far has been to serve Putin a silver platter of a victory that the Russian military has failed to achieve on the ground, and allow him to pretend to accept a cease-fire agreement, when in fact he is just preparing his next attack.Trump is trying to convince Ukraine to cede much of its unconquered sovereign territory to Russia, a proposal that any other country would find unacceptable, not to mention depriving Ukraine of a strong line of defensive fortifications that would leave the capital, Kiev, unprotected and even more vulnerable to future attacks.
It's easy to see why, despite four years of military failure, Putin thinks it's worth continuing the fight.China continues to provide it with technology and financing that its own economy cannot handle.The Russian economy is actually weak, but oil and gas sales are still enough to pay for arms production and military recruitment.Meanwhile, the scandal of the late Jeffrey Epstein's pedophilia and prostitution ring continues to grow and spread.It could embarrass the ruling elites of America, Britain, and many other countries, which could weaken Trump enough for the increasingly desperate US president to take credit for the Ukraine peace deal.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced an investigation into whether Einstein's network may have been built in collaboration with Russian intelligence.A few years ago, such a hypothesis would have seemed hyperbolic, but today it seems very plausible.Epstein traded information and high-level access, as well as sexual solicitation among those he believed to be interested;therefore, the possibility must be taken seriously.He would sell compromising blackmail material to Russian spies.
At home, Putin's position is important in the sense that all of his opponents have been arrested, killed or silenced, and therefore he still has control of all the most important powers.Putin, however, is still weak, in the sense that admitting the truth of Russia's failure to act in Ukraine would seem to him not to do.to control Trump.
Putin's big flaw is that even if Trump is manipulated, his main rival in Ukraine remains strong.The four-year conflict has achieved what Ukrainian nationalists have dreamed of for centuries: namely, true national identity.Unable to gain more territory on the battlefield, Russia's main military strategy is to kill and terrorize the civilian population in Ukraine, either directly or indirectly, by cutting off electricity and heating.Even in the case of weapons, there is no evidence that this strategy works.The Ukrainians seem determined to continue the war.
To get out of this brutal winter of Russian missile attacks and bitter cold, Ukrainians have one basic need: more protection against those night attacks and more money to expand their own production of missiles and drones.In fact, lacking sufficient long-range missiles from European partners or the US, Ukraine is developing and building its own.Not surprisingly, European countries are secretive about the aid they give to Ukraine, but Ukraine is also secretive about what it produces and how big its reserves are.
Not like Putart, no winner of the Ukraine Voione VolodyMyR Zoody Vooldyr Zensky to win with the Prince.The only thing she chooses the purchase of the time by entering the conversation in Abu Dhabi and avoiding Trump to Powering Trump.But as a result of those of those missiles made by home and a lot of their actions, the most likely to win to Patin - and the most important people.
In theory, European countries and EU institutions already provide all foreign military aid and financing to Ukraine.Ukraine now needs military aid primarily for missile defense systems to make Russian night attacks less destructive and lethal.In any case, Ukraine needs more financial aid to be able to maintain its arms production in countries like Denmark, and to finance partner companies being established elsewhere.
There is no telling how and when Putin and the Russian elites close to him will convince themselves that peace is actually the most attractive option for them, even if they are not interested in peace.Falling oil and gas prices could make it harder for Russia to finance its weapons production unless a war between the United States and Iran causes prices to rise again.Ultimately, Russian predictions can and will change as the costs of military failure become truly felt and felt in Russian cities and homes.Ukraine can do it.He needs help to do this, long before the opening ceremony of the next Winter Olympics.
Translated by Anna Bisanti -
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