The West can't come up with anything to deal with Moscow, except appeasement.

Recognise that the free world is at war with Putin, and America is the leader of the free world and should build the coalition against him. It is similar to what Harry Truman did in the Forties. They have to oppose the threat that comes from Putin and other dictators.

The most hopeful approach to peace in Ukraine is the Minsk Agreement, which includes Moscow.

There's the blazing Russian Caucasus, with an ongoing war all against all, which is not to be neglected.

In chess the rules are fixed and the outcome is unpredictable, whereas in Putin's Russia the rules are unpredictable and the outcome is fixed.

Ultimately, what separates a Winner from a Loser at the Grandmaster level is the Willingness to do the Unthinkable.

In my opinion, using different kinds of epithets and adjectives in connection with the word democracy is a sign of mere hypocrisy, to put it mildly. Either there's democracy, or there isn't.