If one redefines victory as "being slaughtered and crushed and ultimately having to live under a puppet government loyal to Putin then yes, Ukraine has won.

If one has a more realistic view of the situation, however, it's clear that not only has Putin already achieved his aims in Ukraine but will now proceed to invade the Baltic states. This is because NATO has clearly signaled its terror of Russian nuclear weapons. Under no circumstances, therefore, will NATO confront Russian forces lest an escalation occurs.

NATO will simply find face-saving formulae by means of which to "explain" its retreats and appeasements.

It is very important to realize that excitable Western journalists offer a totally unreliable guide to geopolitics, especially in times of war. Thus forming one's opinion on the basis of silly sensationalist reportage inevitably leads to erroneous conclusions.

It is unpleasant to acknowledge the pusillanimity of the West, and the fact that appeasement always ends up leading to far worse outcomes than early confrontation would have secured. But we need to be realistic and not delusional. For whatever remains of his life, Putin is in the driver's seat and the West has hypnotized itself into a posture of acquiescence, masked by the charade of sanctions.