Why China won't mediate an end to the Ukraine war

Joseph S Nye

Cambridge

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin thought he could quickly capture Kyiv and replace Ukraine's government. Whether he was misled by poor intelligence or by his own fantasies about history, his "smash and grab" failed in the face of effective Ukrainian resistance. He then turned to a brutal bombardment of cities like Mariupol and Kharkiv to terrorise the civilian population into submission - as he had previously done in Grozny and Aleppo. The tragic upshot is that Ukraine's heroic resistance has been accompanied by increasing civilian suffering.