As tensions escalate between NATO powers and Russia in Ukraine, Western media begins referring to Russia as if it is the former Soviet Union. What does the United States seek to gain from escalating tensions with Moscow?
The Ukraine-Russia issue has been a major focus for the United States Government, which has now sent a further 3,000 American soldiers to Poland, Romania and Germany in order to prove its seriousness in confronting, what they call, Russia’s provocations in Ukraine. At the same time, the chief of NATO accused Moscow of likely deploying 30,000 troops to neighboring Belarus, calling it the “biggest Russian deployment there since the Cold War”.
Since the overthrow of former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, in a regime change effort that was backed by the West, Ukraine entered into the 2014 European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement and has moved into the EU-NATO’s sphere of influence, away from Russia. Part of the West’s efforts to back Ukraine and influence its government, making money from corrupt corporations there along the way, the United States government decided to back neo-Nazi’s in Ukraine, as well as a number of other radical groups. The strategy of backing Ukrainian radicals is reportedly so that the US can have control of militant rebel group leaders in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russia evidently annexed Crimea, formerly part of Ukraine since the 1950’s, which underwent its own referendum. Its population, a majority of ethnic-Russians or Russian speakers, voted overwhelmingly in favor of the annexation. This provoked US-NATO threats and sanctions. There has also been ongoing tensions in the Donbass region of Ukraine, which has a large population of ethnic-Russians. Tensions there led to an uprising by pro-Russian separatists in April of 2014 and the fighting there is still ongoing until this day. Fighting against pro-Russia separatists are also foreign fighters coming from places like the UK. An example of this is Londoner Sean Pinner, presented as a hero type figure in Western media, he has taken up arms in Ukraine after having done the same with the YPG in Syria. Pinner says things like “I feel a need to protect the Ukrainian way of life, even though I’m not Ukrainian.”
Now, today, the United States claims without any proof that Russia is planning to use fake footage and crisis actors in order to justify an invasion of Ukraine. NATO was never supposed to expand its military alliance further towards Russia’s borders, yet they have continued to do just that. Now, Moscow fears they will try and have Kiev join their alliance. Russia is thought to have around 100,000 forces in proximity of Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin does not seem to be joking about escalating tensions if his country is attacked. Even Ukraine, despite requesting backing from the West, is hesitant about escalating further and has even attempted to tell its Western allies (the US and UK) to de-escalate.
What’s interesting here is that the US and UK are making massive threats towards Russia, but really to the detriment of their own allies in Europe. The threat of sanctions and backing Ukraine militarily, whether by proxy or [as a less-likely option] directly, will impact NATO member states dramatically. Russia, for instance, is an irreplaceable partner for supplying gas to Europe. Germany requested that Russia build the Nordstream 2 pipeline and as a result this project will give Russia much more sway over the European Union. If the US introduces sanctions, then it may well cancel the pipeline, but then comes the question of where else does Europe go? The US was seeking Qatar as an option, but the oil-rich Gulf state has not even attempted to contact its own allies to achieve the desired flow of resources to Europe that was demanded of Washington. Doha understands that not one state can replace Russia and so is hesitant to even get involved.
In fact, many analysts argue that the aggression we are seeing from NATO towards Russia in Ukraine — which may see Kiev become the punching-bag in between — is simply a means of preventing the Nordstream 2 pipeline project. If we are to follow this line of thinking, then that would mean that NATO is seeking to ensure the EU stays out of the Russian sphere of influence and that it stays aligned with the United States. But the repercussions of further pursuing this new cold war strategy for the West, is that Russia and China are growing ever closer and this means that their joint strategy will be to combine forces in order to defeat the Western threat. If this continues to unfold, as an East vs West new Cold War, then this will be one war of which the West will not be a victor.
