Russia

The world needs to pay more attention to Russia. The demographics in Russia are much like many other countries in that their population has declined to the point that it cannot replace itself. Many of these same countries including Russia are not interested in immigrants as the local people see them as unwanted foreigners. The long term result is that by the end of this century Russia will no longer be a country unless they decide to bring in immigrants. The population of Russia today is 145 million the same as it was 40 years ago. In contrast during the same time period the US population has grown from 240 million to 340 million. The Russians see the loss of the buffer zone represented by Ukraine as a threat to their existence or in today's jargon an existential threat. If the war turns against them they will react like a cornered animal and as a last recourse bring on the nukes. The West, up to this point, has avoided this possible end by just prolonging the fight. This may go on for many years but at some point if the West keeps adding more and more hi tech weaponry, Russia will lose and then what. The original reason for the war from the standpoint of the West was the fear that Russia will try to recreate the old Soviet Union but the world now sees that Russia's military is no match for the West and the time has come to reach a peaceful settlement. This could save millions of lives and trillions of dollars and have just as good a chance of avoiding nuclear war as dragging out the war.