If the West wanted to minimise Ukrainian deaths then they could do something like draw clear lines in the sand so that Russia publicly knows at what points their continued action leads to Western escalation (defensive escalation). Surely that’s a clearer deterrent and would save Ukrainian lives. Instead we’ve got what looks like European bickering and prevarication and eventually somewhat reluctant support. So maybe that’s genuinely what’s going on. Or if it’s an act I’m sure it’s for well thought out psychological reasons. But as an act it seems to rather encourage Russia to keep pushing, because they hope Western support will falter. So if that’s all deliberate it seems more about draining Russia than helping Ukraine. (With hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian lives sacrificed in the process)
Could be both
If the West wanted to minimise Ukrainian deaths then they could do something like draw clear lines in the sand so that Russia publicly knows at what points their continued action leads to Western escalation (defensive escalation). Surely that’s a clearer deterrent and would save Ukrainian lives. Instead we’ve got what looks like European bickering and prevarication and eventually somewhat reluctant support. So maybe that’s genuinely what’s going on. Or if it’s an act I’m sure it’s for well thought out psychological reasons. But as an act it seems to rather encourage Russia to keep pushing, because they hope Western support will falter. So if that’s all deliberate it seems more about draining Russia than helping Ukraine. (With hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian lives sacrificed in the process)