Here's just how late in the day it truly is

The Washington Post, clearly nobody's idea of a rightie mouthpiece, feels compelled to publish an editorial placing the blame for Russia's accelerated rape of Ukraine on a West with no will:

What about Western leaders, who just last week solemnly declared they would hold Russia accountable if the new deal were violated? All agreed there had been, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman put it, “a massive violation” of the cease-fire agreement. But there was little visible movement toward imposing meaningful consequences. Instead, officials in Brussels echoed a White House statement that said “the costs to Russia will rise” if it “continues to violate” the agreement. That suggested only that additional aggression by Mr. Putin would get a response, maybe.

Given the West’s weakness, more aggression seems likely. But, for now, Mr. Putin has reason to preen. The takeover of Debaltseve will go a long way to consolidate the breakaway puppet state he is building in eastern Ukraine. Under the terms of the deal accepted by the West, Moscow need not allow Ukraine to control its own border with Russia unless and until it agrees to a delegation of power to the Russian entity that satisfies Mr. Putin.

Meanwhile, Mr. Poroshenko will be rocked politically by the latest costly blow to a Ukrainian army that lacks the weapons to stop Russian tanks. He will find it even harder to explain to Ukrainians why they must accept the harsh economic austerity measures his government recently agreed to in exchange for desperately needed international financing. Yet he still has scant hope of obtaining significant new aid or arms supplies from the United States; the White House seized on the supposed peace accord as one more reason to postpone meaningful action.

So the wiggle room in which to find other ways of seeing this is gone.  It's a post-Western world.