I often wonder in situations like this, how much our elected officials believe their own BS. I would hope that while "Putin is the devil" is what they say for political gain, they actually have smart people telling them the reality and they listen. Though their political rhetoric often puts them in a position where they can't react to the reality without admitting they were wrong or misled the public, plus in this case, accepting the reality means accepting that we have at least some culpability in the situation and aren't perfect. That is never received well.