How??
Putin has been trying to "clean Ukraine out" for years, with nothing to show for it but some pounded mud. He's gone through Buryats with Mosin Nagants, Convicts with pointy sticks, and contracted Norks.
Neo-Soviet estimates were that the aid to Ukraine would stop immediately, and Trump would surrender on the FIRST DAY IN OFFICE.
Dragging this out for even the period of mid-JAN to mid-FEB, beyond what they had planned for, is placing great strains on the Kremlin. If we stretch this thing into the summer of 2025, you'll probably see little Rooskie kids with bows and arrows and slingshots charging Free World fighting positions.
Russia is weak, and broken. They are not an entity worthy of a seat at the negotiating table, and POTUS should "Scaramucci" his SECDEF and be talking with Ukraine and NATO- about how much of Russia and where they should lose, and what the reparations plan looks like.