I agree that ultimately NATO passivity will mean that Ukraine will lack the manpower necessary for decisive results. Regarding the use of tactical battlefield weapons, I concur that is at least a 50:50 possibility. The problem with prognostication is that Putin's behavior is highly erratic. First he launches, at the wrong time of year and with the wrong strategy, an invasion. Then he fails to double-down and seems to accept semi-defeat. He is not behaving as a person in consistent control of himself and that makes the future very difficult to foresee. But one thing is very clear: the West's irrational terror of WWIII, doubtless fed by far too many silly Hollywood apocalypse movies, means we're always doing too little too late and thus always encouraging more aggression against our general interests.