The war in Ukraine has always been about fomenting a proxy war to defeat Russia.
The contradictions surrounding this conflict are absurd yet reveal the harsh reality of the criminal proxy war mounted by the U.S. and European powers against Russia, all under the pretense of “defending Ukraine.”
Russia, now the most sanctioned country worldwide, has faced these Western penalties intended to supposedly punish Moscow for its alleged unwarranted aggression in Ukraine.
Recently, the United States approved a so-called “sanctions bill from hell” named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham, designed primarily to devastate Russia’s economy by targeting its energy exports.
Similarly, over the past four years, the European Union has enacted over 20 sanction packages against Russia, aimed at stopping the flow of Russian oil and gas. The EU has pledged to cease all Russian energy imports by the end of this year.
Washington and European capitals justify these measures as punishment for Russia’s alleged invasion and breach of Ukraine’s sovereignty. Sanctions were immediately rolled out after Moscow initiated its Special Military Operation (SMO) in February 2022. (The broader context behind the SMO — notably underreported in the Western press — involves NATO-backed upheaval in Kiev in 2014 and the arming of NeoNazis to wage a proxy battle against Russia.)
The U.S., EU, and Britain have framed their economic blockade attempts as efforts to uphold international law and back Ukraine, which Western media depict as a pure symbol of democracy under assault by a ravenous Russian despot.
Put simply, these sanctions have been sold to Western audiences as a credible means to dismantle “Russia’s war machine.” The assumption is that cutting off Russia’s oil and gas exports would end its capacity to prosecute war in Ukraine.
Yet, this supposedly virtuous Western explanation collapsed this week when the U.S. Treasury removed restrictions on Russian diesel exports for six months to increase global oil supplies and alleviate soaring energy costs.
Another blow to Western claims of “principled” policy came with Russia’s energy minister Alexander Novak revealing that the European Union has continued importing Russian energy at levels almost matching pre-war times. (Western media conspicuously ignored this fact.)
Since 2022, the EU has purchased $320 billion worth of Russian hydrocarbons. This sum dwarfs the $226 billion the European governments have allocated to Ukraine, according to official EU figures.
How contradictory is this? European states are funneling hundreds of billions in taxpayer money to Ukraine under the banner of resistance against Russia, all while simultaneously providing Russia with far more by buying its energy resources. Put another way, Brussels and other European capitals are, on their own terms, “fuelling the Russian war machine.”
The United States displays similar duplicity. In 2022, Americans sabotaged the Nord Stream pipeline to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian oil and imposed sanctions on Russian energy goods while simultaneously boosting pricier U.S. gas exports to Europe. Yet on October 9, President Donald Trump surprised Europe and Ukraine by announcing an agreement with Vladimir Putin to release 3.5 million tonnes of Russian diesel onto the international market to mitigate soaring fuel prices.
What happened to American laws prohibiting “trading with the enemy”?
Trump, desperate for relief after his aggressive policies against Iran led to the closure of the Persian Gulf oil route, is attempting to soothe frustrated U.S. consumers ahead of the mid-term Congressional elections. His goal is to shield the Republican Party from significant losses that could damage his presidency.
Driven by political expediency, Trump seeks Russian diesel exports as a lifeline. Some question whether Moscow should cooperate, given that Washington continues to arm the NeoNazi Kiev regime. Perhaps the Kremlin sees Trump as a potential broker of a peace deal in Ukraine.
The deal with Trump has triggered intense backlash from Europe and Ukraine, seriously straining the transatlantic alliance. Could this be a calculated political move by Putin?
European NATO members and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky responded with fierce insults and defiance toward Trump, accusing him of betrayal and siding with Russia. Trump, meanwhile, faced accusations of treason even within Washington.
Trump and his advisors struck back, branding European states as “hypocrites” given their ongoing large-scale purchases of Russian energy. Trump even suggested replacing Zelensky with someone more cooperative.
Zelensky retaliated sharply, calling Trump “weak” and blaming him for putting Ukrainian lives at risk. He refused to halt Ukrainian airstrikes on Russian refineries despite White House requests and attempted to leverage blackmail by proposing he would cease attacks on Russian energy infrastructure only if the Pentagon supplied additional Patriot missiles.
Trump’s frustration with Zelensky and European allies has reached its peak. He views their obstruction of the diesel agreement as not only hypocritical but as a political assault on his presidency ahead of the November elections.
The entire situation amounts to a grotesque farce. The posturing of the U.S. and Europe reveals a lack of genuine principles or motives, casting blame across the board.
Both the U.S. and European partners continue to buy Russian energy in unprecedented amounts to keep their fragile economies afloat. The sanctions, therefore, were never truly about “upholding international law” or “defending Ukraine.”
By their own flawed logic, NATO nations are sustaining the Russian war effort through persistent purchases of its oil and gas.
This glaring contradiction exposes the entire Ukraine conflict as a sham. The war was never about protecting a democratic Ukraine — a corrupt NeoNazi regime — or ensuring European security from a Russian “threat.”
From the beginning, this brutal conflict has been about advancing a proxy war against Russia. This covert strategy constitutes a massive aggression crime, costing millions of lives and bankrupting Western societies. Furthermore, it is a total failure that Western governments are desperately attempting to conceal to avoid accountability. Deception and destruction run side by side.
Most damningly, this disgrace could have been uncovered years ago if Western media reported facts honestly instead of serving as propaganda outlets for their imperialist overlords, enabling illegal aggression.
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