Thanks for reading and commenting. I can't defend Putin. But part of diplomacy is not a negotiation with the country's leader, but the country itself. Right now, his biggest challenger seems to be Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group.

Rounds of ineffective diplomacy have the potential to encourage other voices within Russia to step into the leadership void.

The point of the article is, "get to NO." Maybe Putin gets replaced, and we can get to "yes."

Maybe not. Can't know without trying.

Honestly, the place to start is China. The U.S. should be holding talks with them to get their help. That's a more logical place to deal with all the NOs. Getting India's help would be useful, too.

In fact, why not an ongoing set of peace talks that don't even involve Russia? Engage China and India to help with this.