You wouldn't believe the level of hate and name-calling I received for pointing this out and saying they should negotiate.

This has been going on since 2014. Since last year Russia stepped up with genocide. I think it's not so nice you're pretending you were downvoted for two things, while ignoring that negotiation is pretty stupid. Look in the past, Russia often though messed up their initial attack only then to finally become wiser after regrouping.