At the one-year mark of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden both insisted this week that they were committed to the fight. Putin prepared Russia for a long war to be waged "step by step,” while the American president said "we will not tire” in the quest to ensure a democratic Ukraine.

And in a news conference in Kyiv on Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said he was "certain” his country would win, calling victory inevitable.

But none of the leaders made it clear what an attainable victory might look like, while hitching their legacies to a war with no discernible end.