As the Ukraine conflict enters its third year, a senior NATO commander has offered a sobering portrait of Vladimir Putin — not as a leader growing weary of war, but as one growing bolder within it. Where earlier calculations of cost and consequence once tempered his choices, observers within NATO's highest ranks now detect a loosening of those internal constraints. History reminds us that the most dangerous moments in prolonged conflicts often arrive not when leaders are exhausted, but when they feel they have nothing left to lose.