Opinion by Fareed Zakaria
Russia's performance in the war has been poor but it is doing better, especially at holding territory. Russia has also been able to stabilize its economy, which the IMF projects will do better this year than the UK's or Germany's. Russia is trading freely with such economic behemoths as China, and India, as well as neighbors like Turkey and Iran. Because of these countries and many more, outside of the advanced technology sector, it has access to all the goods and capital it lost through the Western boycott. There is now a huge world economy that does not include the West, and Russia can swim in those waters freely.
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…while Russia's economy is in slow decline, Ukraine's has fallen off a cliff. GDP contracted by about 30% in 2022, and the government is spending more than double what it takes in (thanks to Western aid).
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If [the war] grinds on like this for years, it will be worth asking -- are we letting Ukraine get destroyed in order to save it.
