Ian Bremmer

Putin doesn't have to worry about that kind of thing.

If you're Putin, you can keep raising thousands and hundreds of thousands of young men

And the Russian people can't really do anything to you.

They don't have an ability to raise their voices in response.

So he thinks he can throw more people at it.

He can have stronger political stability.

He's got a bigger economy and a bigger war economy.

He also thinks that the Europeans will lose interest.

He has seen a number of European governments less willing to provide support.

And most importantly, he's seen the Americans

very inconsistent, much more internally divided over why it is that they're supporting Ukraine, even willing to suspend for a period of time intelligence and defense equipment at a time that they were not willing to threaten Russia credibly with bigger consequences and more sanctions.

So if you're Putin, you've believed

that the longer you stick with this war, the weaker the Ukrainians will get, the more the Europeans will be divided, and the more likely the Americans are going to walk away.

And even with Trump getting embarrassed by Putin stringing him along, there's nothing that Trump has shown Putin that has changed that view.

So the big question

is whether Ukraine, showing that they do have some cards to play, that they can actually damage Russia in ways that certainly Putin had never considered possible.

And what else might they be able to do?

How might they be able to weaken Russia critically on the global stage, its military capabilities?

How might they make Putin look vulnerable with his own leaders showing that he misjudged critically Ukraine's lack of capabilities?

Might they even be able to assassinate Putin?