Putin's war in Ukraine has been going on for more than two weeks, and at this point no one has a miracle formula that will take the Russian president off the tree and make him stop the attack.
Macron and Schultz's talks with Putin have become routine: after every conversation with him, they are convinced there is nothing to talk about and point to the expansion of sanctions against Russia.
Talks in Belarus and Turkey are not going anywhere either.
Moscow continues to dig into positions of principle, and also demands new security arrangements in Europe vis-à-vis NATO.
Russian progress and takeover of Ukrainian cities take place slowly and awkwardly, equipment breaks down and Russian soldiers are taken prisoner.
And yet, the situation is changing, and not in favor of the Ukrainians.
The conquest of Kherson and Melitopol and the creation of a choke ring around Mariupol and Kharkiv were intended to achieve a specific goal: the conquest of southeastern Ukraine and the actual dismantling of the country.
Another goal is the damage and destruction of the Ukrainian economy: Russia wants to control strategic port cities on the one hand and destroy the civilian infrastructure completely on the other, as was done in Syria.
The severe damage to the cities of Ukraine has come to signal something: Russia does not want to control Ukraine and derive economic benefit from it, at least not at this stage.
In Syria, too, Russia does not build or invest in infrastructure (unlike Iran, for example).
It has completely different strategic objectives - military bases and areas of influence.
Despite the pleas of Zalansky, who understands well how this war is about to end for him and the Ukrainian people, the West is in no hurry to provide real military assistance to Ukraine, for fear of greater entanglement.
The question is, is it still possible to avoid the expansion of the war?
Putin is threatening Poland and the Baltic states lest they transfer planes or convoys of weapons from Ukraine to their territory, lest the plane deal with Poland be dropped off the table immediately.
Despite the sanctions and severe damage to the Russian economy, Putin is the one still running this campaign.
All reasons to be on the right side of history
Much has been said about the fact that thanks to the war in Ukraine the West has united and managed to mend the rifts, and that today it is much stronger and stronger.
But in practice it turns out that the collective West is still unable to stop the massacre in Ukraine and its destruction by a bully waving nuclear weapons and threatening doomsday weapons.
It currently has nothing to offer other than javelin (which does a nice job) and closing of McDonald's branches in Moscow.
A country that wanted to be part of the West is sacrificed on an altar of maintaining an existing world order, even though it is clear to all that this order has long since collapsed.
We do not know how the war in Ukraine will end, but it is clear that if we do not end up with a deterrent equation that will also stop the war and punish the aggressor - the post-war world will be much more dangerous for everyone, including the State of Israel.
It would be possible to abolish the international institutions that have long since become irrelevant, because any bully who lays a hand on an atomic bomb will be able to achieve his goals while in international rage and expressing huge support for the victim, including the appropriate emojis.
Israel is not an uninvolved party in this story.
It, too, is in a region prone to disaster, and here too there are countries, such as the nuclear Iran, that will seize this opportunity to strengthen and dictate new conditions.
This is also why, in addition to an infinity of humanitarian and humanitarian reasons, Israel needs to be on the right side of history.
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