This item has received little discussion in the mainstream media, and my search of Aussie sites turned up nothing. A Rand.org publication, highly respectable, argues that the US should avoid a long conflict in the Ukraine, which does not serve US interests. “The costs and risks of a long war in Ukraine are significant and outweigh the possible benefits of such a trajectory for the United States.” This is all along conventional strategic and economic lines, so it does not take in the conspiratorial dimension, naturally enough. But the conventional is the public face of the neocons and Democrat alliance, so this publication is a slap in the face to the public display.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA2510-1.html

“Avoiding a Long War

U.S. Policy and the Trajectory of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict”

by Samuel Charap, Miranda Priebe

“Discussion of the Russia-Ukraine war in Washington is increasingly dominated by the question of how it might end. To inform this discussion, this Perspective identifies ways in which the war could evolve and how alternative trajectories would affect U.S. interests. The authors argue that, in addition to minimizing the risks of major escalation, U.S. interests would be best served by avoiding a protracted conflict. The costs and risks of a long war in Ukraine are significant and outweigh the possible benefits of such a trajectory for the United States. Although Washington cannot by itself determine the war's duration, it can take steps that make an eventual negotiated end to the conflict more likely. Drawing on the literature on war termination, the authors identify key impediments to Russia-Ukraine talks, such as mutual optimism about the future of the war and mutual pessimism about the implications of peace. The Perspective highlights four policy instruments the United States could use to mitigate these impediments: clarifying plans for future support to Ukraine, making commitments to Ukraine's security, issuing assurances regarding the country's neutrality, and setting conditions for sanctions relief for Russia.