How Trump can leverage Ukraine's 'badass' strike to finally make Putin blink

President Donald Trump has privately talked of Ukraine’s drone operation deep inside Russia as “strong” and “badass,” Axios reports.He’s right on that — but not so much, we’d suggest, in his worries that the attack will make it harder to reach a cease-fire.Consider: Kyiv once again targeted the enemy’s military assets, specifically Moscow’s long-range bombers — including nuclear-capable planes central to Russia’s atomic deterrent.In that, the Ukrainians not only served their own cause, but made the whole world a bit safer.And Vladimir Putin’s response in the days that followed was simply more blitzing of Ukrainian civilians — no different from what he’d been doing before that, indeed has done from the start of his invasion.That is, Vlad didn’t truly “escalate” because he’s already pulling out every stop he dares to.(All the hints of going nuclear are bluffs: Doing that would be a risk orders of magnitude beyond any he’s ever taken.)In short, the Kremlin has no more chips to add: Fearsome as its current war machine may be, it’s at its limit.And it’s not remotely free: Russia’s losses far exceed any price it’s paid since Stalin was fighting Hitler; much lower casualties in Afghanistan were a major blow to the USSR regime, hastening its end.So Putin will need to recalculate if the war continues as a near-stalemate — and, yes, think about limiting his losses if his risks grow.This is why Sen.

Lindsey Graham’s “secondary sanctions” bill is a likely game-changer — threatening, as it does, Putin’s vitally needed China trade.And why US military aid to Ukraine should continue.Weeks of American diplomatic efforts have made it unmistakable that Putin is the barrier to any cease-fire: It costs him nothing he cares about to keep the war going, with an excellent chance he can score a full victory if Trump decides America has done enough — and no real chance his position will weaken anytime soon.The “badass” gambit...