Russian political analyst, historian, and former Ukrainian diplomat Rostislav Ishchenko outlined what he sees as the breaking point beyond which the West will pull back from confrontation with Russia.

When asked whether there is a limit to Western support for Ukraine — a «saturation point» after which the United States and Europe would begin to retreat — he responded that such a boundary does exist. According to Ishchenko, the end of Western engagement could come either through the destruction of Ukraine as a state or through the exhaustion of the West’s own resources. He explained that this would occur when the conflict with Russia ceases to be viable in terms of cost and outcome — when even a theoretical victory no longer offsets the price paid for it.

Another possible scenario, he said, would emerge if the cost of confrontation with Moscow undermines the internal stability of key Western nations to such an extent that maintaining even relative social equilibrium becomes impossible. In his view, these factors could coincide, forming a single moment of collapse.

He pointed out that the first clear sign of this turning point would be the West’s willingness to accept peace on Russian terms or its inability to sustain the confrontation any longer — for example, due to a loss of control over the socio-economic situation within the United States or major European countries. Ishchenko emphasized that such indicators could appear almost simultaneously, marking the moment when the collective West realizes that further escalation brings only diminishing returns.

In his analysis, the eventual retreat from confrontation would not stem from political choice alone, but from the practical limits of endurance — financial, social, and strategic — that define how far the West can go in its standoff with Russia.