The exceptional resistance of the Ukrainians, often armed only with rifles and on many other occasions just the most rudimentary weapons to stop the Russian invasion, is astonishing the whole world. Obviously, the Russian army has enormous military force, part of which is moving into Ukraine with tens of miles of tanks lined up, one after the other, ready to engage. From this point of view, the military confrontation is radically asymmetrical. The problem is that, beyond its power of intimidation, Vladimir Putin's deployment is worth very little, as there is widespread consensus among global analysts that a large-scale war with tens of thousands of deaths, crushing those who are today fighting for the liberty of their country, is something that Russia cannot afford without paying an even higher cost than it is already for a war that was misconceived and whose evolution is still uncertain.
That is why, too, the days are going by without anything being resolved and the Ukrainians have managed to implant in international public opinion the idea of resistance to the megalomaniac and ruthless Putin. His Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, a law graduate, actor and comedian who has only been president for two years, after reaching the post propelled by a television series in which he played the same fictional role as he now has in real life, has reached an approval rating close to 90% when close to a week has gone by since the start of the invasion. A situation diametrically opposed to that of Putin in Russia, where street protests are ongoing, those who challenge the regime are being arrests and the possibility that anger has been ignited in some parts of the armed forces may be something more than a rumour.
Hence the apparent dilemma faced by the Russians: throwing everything into a forward advance poses many problems - the Chinese have made an attempt to lower the tension by expressing support for the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine - while continuing with selective attacks will keep the conflict going indefinitely, as the Ukrainian defence is strong enough and is not threatened today. This is Zelensky's trump card: for the war to become prolonged and the West, in one way or another, to end up getting involved in it beyond the economic sanctions that have been applied on Russia - which have taken the ruble to historic lows so that it is now barely worth a single cent, quite literally; as well as the weapons that are being provided to him from different countries so that he can defend himself and the unconditional support that he is receiving. An obvious example has been his speech to the European Parliament, in which the Ukraine leader, in addition to giving thanks by videoconference for the support shown to him, called on Europeans to go one step further and give guarantees that they won't stay on the sidelines. In short, that the support must be serious and not circumstantial.
Zelenski does well to call for greater commitment from the European Union, even if it is difficult to translate that into something practical that does not involve military support. The ever fragile, divided and timid Europe is giving a much better response than one might have thought in the first few days of the invasion. Germany and Switzerland have both made tectonic shifts of great importance in terms of international geopolitics, changing positions that they have been held, in the case of the Swiss, for two centuries. For their part, Sweden and Finland have moved closer to NATO, much to Putin's irritation. It is clear that things that seemed stuck fast at the beginning of the invasion are freeing up. That’s why the military parade that Putin had probably predicted for his troops in his plans for the conflict is sinking into very swampy ground - a nightmare from which he doesn’t quite know how to extract himself.