The actual collateral damage will be the Russians. Ukraine will get better, meanwhile Russia is unlikely to survive in its current shape - and when Moscow gets cut off from from easy money from parasitizing on its colonies, it will crash terribly - much worse than in 1990, because back then Russia still had allies; now even China doesn’t want to cooperate; it complies with sanctions and is dropping strategic investments.
In a way, this is a proxy war - against China, at Russia. Western response means Russia has no future with the West and has to pivot to China. This would give China advantage, so I think it’s unlikely for US to preserve Russia in a shape that could be useful to China as an ally.
In a way, this is a proxy war - against China, at Russia. Western response means Russia has no future with the West and has to pivot to China. This would give China advantage, so I think it’s unlikely for US to preserve Russia in a shape that could be useful to China as an ally.