The question will be a race between diplomacy (always hidden) and war. Will NATO arm Ukraine with the weapons it will need to withstand a bigger onslaught by crack troops. I say this as if I know that the original invasion was thought to be a pushover for conscripts – I do not.
Putin has hit Kiev again it seems. He threatens Sweden and Finland if they join NATO. The Russian public is being manipulated (Just like the British Public were regarding Brexit – funded to some extent by Russia) and will intimately support him as there is no alternative at the moment. Dissent is punishable with punitive sentences, and yet there is some dissent in big cities.
We also need to remember that Russia and Eastern Europe have no history of the democracy we have. In supporting the likes of Hungary and Poland we are supporting people with fundamentally different views to many in the west.