You are right - It was taken as a sign of weakness rather than a...

You are right - It was taken as a sign of weakness rather than a "changing of the Guard" and the West just keeps banging on about a "Victory". There were also internal politics at Stake in the USSR, Boris Yeltsin was the leader of the largest country in the USSR (Russia) and yet he still had to answer to a higher Authority ie Gorbachev.
I think the best outcome would be to negotiate Putin's NATO request ie. Guarantee no NATO membership for Ukraine and run Putin out of time ie he's 69 and can't live forever.
The benefits for Ukraine would be enormous, the West and Russia would pile investment into the Country in an attempt to "bribe" the Ukrainians onto their side.
The world is not a perfect place, if it was the American Indians would still be the masters of the United States, The Mayans, Incas etc would control South America, Aborigines would be No 1 in Australia and Northern Ireland would be part of Eire