In Western debates about how to aid Ukraine—and how the war might end—there is a widespread view that Ukraine cannot and should not defeat Russia outright or fully expel it from its territory. Indeed, few Western politicians openly support Ukraine’s “victory,” instead using vague phrases like helping Kyiv “as long as it takes.” Since Moscow has nuclear weapons, so this line of thinking goes, it losing the war is not only impossible but, in fact, undesirable. To avert a humiliating defeat, Russia might risk Armageddon and use its nuclear arms, and surely Ukrainian territory and sovereignty are not worth that.
Having given up its nuclear weapons in 1994, Ukraine is doomed, in this narration, to accept at least some of Russia’s demands. Many prominent Western voices have promoted some version of this narrative. University of Chicago academic John Mearsheimer, who was adamant before February 2022 that Russia would not attack Ukraine and predicted a Russian victory multiple times since, warned the West not to push “a great power to the brink” because Russian President Vladimir Putin “might then turn to nuclear weapons.”
In Western debates about how to aid Ukraine—and how the war might end—there is a widespread view that Ukraine cannot and should not defeat Russia outright or fully expel it from its territory. Indeed, few Western politicians openly support Ukraine’s “victory,” instead using vague phrases like helping Kyiv “as long as it takes.” Since Moscow has nuclear weapons, so this line of thinking goes, it losing the war is not only impossible but, in fact, undesirable. To avert a humiliating defeat, Russia might risk Armageddon and use its nuclear arms, and surely Ukrainian territory and sovereignty are not worth that.
