You're asking good questions, but there’s a bigger picture here.

Keeping the war going does deepen the rift between the "West" and the "rest" (Global South, China, parts of Africa, Latin America) because the longer it drags on, the more global fatigue sets in.

Europe may strengthen militarily, but economically and politically it's getting weaker... inflation, energy crises, internal divisions (think of Hungary, Slovakia, even parts of Germany), and rising far right movements that don't necessarily want to give aid to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, countries in the Global South see the West’s endless funding of the war and start asking why wars and genocides elsewhere (like in Palestine, Sudan, Yemen) don't get the same attention or aid. That erodes Western moral authority globally, this alone is probably why you're here on this platform today.

China and Russia use that frustration to present themselves as “alternatives” to U.S. and European dominance — even if it's obviously self-serving.

Also, a prolonged war keeps the U.S. distracted and pouring resources into Ukraine instead of focusing fully on Asia-Pacific (where China’s real ambitions lie). From Putin’s view, even if Russia suffers economically, the systemic weakening of Western unity is a bigger win in the long run.