a face-saving way to stop something expensive and fruitless and not working, and get paid for it.

It's fruitless. I'll go on to something else.

If prosecutors are looking for a face-saving way out, this is it.

I don't think it's fair to characterize this as a gimmick. This is paid for. This is not a gimmick.

You're paid to stop a bullet.It's a soldier's job, they say.And so you stop your bullet,And then they stop your pay.

The declaration is a contemptible face-saving exercise by WTO.