John Mearsheimer: US Pullback, Alliance Breakdown and Wars

Mearsheimer has been saying for years that at some point the shooting will stop in the Ukraine war and the result will be an “ugly peace” with a “rump Ukraine” and poisonous relations between Russia and Europe as far as the eye can see.

I do not think the Ukraine war can end this way, because it would not really be an end, merely a pause in the conflict between Russia and Europe. Russia wants the “root causes” of the war to be dealt with, and this means there has to be a whole Eurasian security agreement. Russia won’t stop its military activity until Europe agrees to such a security arrangement. It won’t leave a “rump Ukraine” infested with Banderite Nazi revanchists and terrorist operations going on constantly. Russia will accomplish the objectives announced by Putin at the start of the war, which are demilitarization and de-Nazification. This applies to ALL of Ukraine, especially including West Ukraine where all the Banderite Nazis are. They are the problem, not the so-called “ethnic Ukrainians” who never wanted this war and now can only hope Russia will rebuild the area after getting rid of the Nazis and installing a Russia-friendly administration in Kiev. Russia will hunt down every Nazi they can get their hands on in Ukraine, and also go after the ones that escape to other countries, demanding that they be tried for their crimes.