It's been a weird couple of days, and internationally, Ukraine suddenly seems to have the upper hand.

But on the ground, Putin seems to be leaning towards all-out war : until recently, he has seemed to be trying to avoid large-scale civilian deaths (if we charitably ascribe the various atrocities to blunders or poor tactical decisions by battlefield commanders).

But in Kharkiv, where apparently the Russians expected to be welcomed with open arms, because it's a "Russian majority" city... it's getting extremely bloody. Mariupol, if the separatists try to take the city, will be carnage.

But to negotiate an end to the war, they need to throw Putin a bone. Cede the oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk to Putin, and be done with it?

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}