It is not a proxy war. A proxy war is a war instigated by a third-party using a different country as a proxy to fight their battles for them. All the US has done is to provide Ukraine the means to defend themselves. This is a common fiction and part of current Russian propaganda. Arguably, the US could get directly involved since they agreed to assure the security of Ukraine in the Budapest Accord of 1994 in return for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. At the time it was the third largest world nuclear power.
Rather than saying that Ukraine should settle or that they were in the process of doing so, you should actually talk to the people who live there and are fighting there. They are the ones who need to make the decision, not us. There is free reporting going on in Ukraine (except as to sensitive military matters) contrary to your suggestion otherwise. Plus, since the ouster of Poroshenko, a corrupt Russian puppet, and the election of Zelensky, Ukraine has made massive strides towards becoming a free democracy, with far less corruption. And no, the Maiden movement was not instigated by the US or the CIA. It was a popular revolution started by the Ukrainian people themselves. If you actually knew the people there, which, apparently you do not, you would know this.
Before the war, roughly 30% of the Ukrainian population in the eastern oblasts had a favorable view of Russia. Because of their brutality and oppression, now fully 98% of all Ukrainians across the country hate Russia and want them gone from all of their territory. The local individuals, many of whom I am in direct contact with, are adamant about this.
Suggesting that there can be a negotiated settlement with Russia is a fantasy. Putin has always maintained the position that Ukraine will never get back the portion of eastern Ukraine, and all of Crimea. He considers this nonnegotiable. Ironically, it was Russia, who also was a signatory to the Budapest Accord of 1994 and agreed to ensure the security of Ukraine together with the US and UK in return for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. You can see how well that worked out for them.
Putin considers himself a modern day tsar to reestablish the glory of the Russian empire that never was. Not only Ukraine, Russia also has invaded Georgia and Chechnya (twice). He also created a conflict in Transnistria. The reason that so many of Russia’s neighbors are interested in joining NATO (which by the way is a voluntary defensive alliance) is because they fully understand the aggressive tendency of their belligerent neighbor. You really don’t understand the Russian psychology very well.
