I am not suggesting to make Russia weak at all. It is precisely because Russia has been getting stronger that it now can withstand the assault from the West. This is what Goldman said, "Russia would emerge triumphant and American assets in Western Europe would be degraded. The impact on America’s world standing would be devastating..."

If Russia is failing in this war, China might have to give it direct military aid so as to keep the war going-- in order to buy more time for China itself.

If Russia were much stronger than it was 2 decades ago, the West might in fact have wanted to ally with it to have a go at China. Putin was trying to suck up to the West when his first became president-- until the West spurned his attempts time and again. He then decided to fall in love with China.

In any case, I think a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict is very small now. This also seems to be the opinion of people like Goldman and Mearsheimer.