From the Ralph Peter’s article

“…this latest burst of Russian imperialism will end badly for Russia-eventually. Russia’s patterns are deeply ingrained, and Putin is the quintessential Russian in his ambitions (if not in his tee-totaling). Russia always overreaches, and Putin will, too. But the longer he is left unchecked, the grimmer and costlier the ultimate confrontation is going to be.”

That’s a good summation of the most likely end game, even if we do not know how it will play out. The possibility of a shooting war with Russia was not on the list a year or so ago but I must agree with Peters that Putin has enough internal support to raise the ante by making a move on Urkraine – and probably sooner than later.

I doubt that Poland and the Baltic states will meekly accept a new “Soviet” neighbor.