I can see the argument.I guess it depends if you think long-term...

I can see the argument.
I guess it depends if you think long-term or short-term. I suspect now that Russia had a slimming opportunity to avoid serious security issues in it's future. It seems obvious to me that conflict was not what Russia wanted, but what they understood they had to do (after everything else failed).
Short term I think they're struggling more than they would have anticipated, because they didn't think the Kyiv regime would decide it's people are so expendible (and can be used to fail to save a border that has always meandered).
Long term, I think they have shown themselves to be a country which you probably want to respect. Especially if you are their neighbour (maybe keep the water flowing).

In the future if may become apparent that Russia acted just in time to save itself (but this is just my uneducated hunch).

The longer this has gone on, the more I dislike the double standards and dishonesty of the West.