I have always believed that the war in Ukraine was an attempt to seperate Russia from China by destabilising the Putin regime and bringing Russia closer to the West, at least as a result of a negotiated peace if not regime change. Everyone knows the war cannot be won by either side on the battlefield as long as Ukraine has Western support. But letting Russia simply win, which it could do if the West/US withdrew, actually defeats the goal of further isolating China.

This rationale seems to be holding true according to the indicators for the current truce plan - The US was always willing to sacrifice Ukrainian lives, by making it the frontline in its proxy war. But now the US is willing to sacrifice the entire country of Ukraine in order to split Russia from China. To do this, the US needs to bypass Europe and the EU, which is exactly what it is doing now. The results will be bad for Europe, terrible for Ukraine but perfect for the USA and eventually Russia. Bad for China too.