At Munich, Volodymyr Zelensky tore away the illusions and said out loud what everyone dealing in reality already knows: this isn’t a normal ruler, and this isn’t a normal war.

‘Putin doesn’t live like ordinary people. He can’t imagine life without power, or after it. The everyday concerns of real societies don’t interest him. His reference points aren’t living advisers or the world as it is today, but dead emperors and faded maps. He consults Tsar Peter and Empress Catherine more than he consults anyone who understands modern life.

He may see himself as a tsar, but in truth he’s a slave to war, trapped by it, defined by it, unable to exist without it.’

And here’s the real danger: what if he’s still there in ten years? It’s entirely possible. Time is all he needs to regroup, rebuild, and try again.

So as I say, when America talks about “peace,” let’s be honest about what that means in practice: pressure on the victim, not the aggressor. Because Putin hasn’t changed. His worldview hasn’t changed, and his ambitions haven’t changed.

Only the cost paid by Ukraine, keeps going up. 🇺🇦