In what sense are we letting Putin do whatever he wants?

I mean, the EU is still announcing new sanction packages (they’re on their 17th package so far), which makes it seem like a lot is being done, but on the other hand why have all these sanctions not been implemented from the start? I don’t hear of the EU holding back weapons anymore, but it took literal years to get to this stage. And let’s not get into how reliant Europe still is on Russia gas after four years despite renewable energy being right there, or how the EU keeps supporting (or at least condoning) US imperialism that directly compromises Ukrainian defense, as is the case in Iran, or how Hungary is allowed to hold up billions in aid to Ukraine. After four years of this the EU is still pulling punches, and there’s very little indication it ever intends to stop doing so. The EU’s idea of supporting Ukraine is supporting Ukraine to the extent that it doesn’t compromise the bourgeois status quo (edit: recent example). Either go all in and stop the Russian invasion or force a peaceful settlement/capitulation without throwing Ukrainian and Russian lives into the blender.

It was supposed to be a three-day war, but they’ve been stuck in Donbas for four years.

It should’ve been a three-day war in Ukraine’s favor, is my point. Spending a decade grinding Russia and Ukraine to dust against each other is the worst of both worlds.