US Becomes a Party to the Conflict in Ukraine

 25.08.2022 Author: Valery Kulikov

Column: Politics

Region: Ukraine in the world

The fact that the escalation of the Ukraine conflict is happening not only at the direct instigation of the United States and other NATO allies but also with direct encouragement from Washington, is now openly expressed by many politicians and observers.

As Russian Federation Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russia-1 TV on August 20, Russia is by no means trying to get the United States to intervene directly in the armed conflict in Ukraine, but so far all of Washington’s actions have led precisely to this result. According to him, Moscow wants to avoid a situation in which the United States becomes a party to the conflict, countering Russia’s special military operation to denazify Ukraine. “The United States denies this, but the facts speak for themselves, no matter how much they argue that they are not involved in any decisions on the use of weapons, all this is refuted by life, refuted by statements, including statements of the Ukrainian side, to which we pay attention,” stressed Mr. Ryabkov.

The fact that the influence of the United States on official Kyiv has reached such a level that Washington is increasingly becoming a party to the conflict in Ukraine was also highlighted on August 13 by the Director of the North America Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Darchiev: “The extent of Washington’s influence on Kyiv exceeds all conceivable limits. In addition to extensive military and financial aid, as well as moral support for the Zelensky regime, the Americans are increasingly becoming a direct party to the conflict.” Darchiev noted that Ukrainian officials themselves are “ranting” about this state of affairs. “In particular, General Vadim Skibitsky, deputy head of the Main Intelligence Department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, recently stated that the Ukrainian military consults with its curators from the United States before a HIMARS attack,” he explained.

The German publication Merkur recently drew attention to NATO’s attempt to distance itself from the conflict in Ukraine and officially limit the alliance’s support to financial aid and arms deliveries. Although the Alliance and the United States try to emphasize that they are not directly involved in the conflict, a recent investigation has shown that a network of Western special forces is operating on Ukrainian territory, not only from the United States, but also from other NATO countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Lithuania. They are engaged in reconnaissance, weapons preparation, and training of Ukrainian soldiers.

The CIA officers, who are also present in some cities in Western Ukraine, coordinate from Kyiv some of the reconnaissance.

Air Force Magazine also talks about the direct involvement of the United States in the Ukraine conflict, citing the words of the commander of the US Space Forces, General John Raymond, who admitted that American commercial satellites support Ukraine’s forces. In particular, they provide high-speed Internet access that allows troops to stay in touch with command and helps expand Ukraine’s battlefield capabilities.

Officials of the current Kyiv regime, without hesitation, speak of close coordination of their actions with Washington. For example, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced on August 18 that there was an agreement between Kyiv and the United States that American weapons would not be used to attack Russian territory, but “there are no such restrictions in Crimea, the Donbas, and other areas not controlled by Kyiv.” Clear confirmation of such concerted action by the United States and Ukraine in the armed conflict with Russia may also be the refusal of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on August 9 to respond to media questions about how the United States views the idea of possible attacks by Kyiv on Crimea with American weapons.

The United States has a penchant for proxy wars in Ukraine: with its weapons but in the wrong hands, it began pumping mercenaries from various parts of the world, particularly Afghan mercenaries, into the country. And the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, recently confirmed that Afghan mercenaries were fighting in Ukraine on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These are former fighters of the Afghan army who left the country after the Taliban took power (representatives of the Afghan formation banned in the Russian Federation) and had been trained by American instructors. As the Taliban approached Kabul, they were promised US citizenship, which they never received.

Today the United States indeed makes no secret of its ability to openly interfere in the Ukraine conflict. This version of the development of events in Ukraine was presented in particular by John Mearsheimer, professor of political science at the College of Chicago, in his article “Playing with Fire in Ukraine” for the American publication Foreign Affairs. That could happen, for example, if the Russian army wins a major victory or if the conflict does not end within a year. And then Washington could use ground troops to help Ukraine. At the same time, the general conclusion of the publication is that the United States will directly intervene in the conflict in Ukraine in any case unless Russia is defeated and surrenders.

As the American philosopher, historian and linguist Noam Chomsky told the Mexican newspaper El Universal, the United States, supporting Kyiv and forming an anti-Russian coalition of Western countries, has started an unthinkable game, trying to weaken Russia’s position on the political stage as much as possible. Chomsky is convinced that Washington wants to aggravate the situation in the world to the extreme and deprive Moscow of the opportunity to solve the Ukraine crisis diplomatically. And such a decision, according to the American historian, was made by NATO during the summit at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and is based on the declared position of the United States. Namely, this boils down to the fact that Moscow must be weakened more than the Versailles Treaty weakened Germany in 1919 in order to weaken Russia’s forces even more – so that it cannot negotiate and engage in diplomacy. At the same time, Noam Chomsky pointed out the injustice of such an attitude toward the Ukraine conflict. He pointed out how events in Ukraine are portrayed in the media, recalling American methods of imposing its own order in Iraq, Syria, or Libya. Chomsky described Washington’s long-standing efforts to bring Kyiv into the North Atlantic Alliance to the detriment of Russian interests as a downright provocation, despite Moscow’s constant protests and the warnings of experienced American politicians.

Another prominent American politician, former Congresswoman and Iraq War veteran Tulsi Gabbard, who replaced Fox News host Tucker Carlson on August 11, said that US President Joe Biden’s real goal in escalating the Ukraine crisis was to tempt Russia into a coup. As Gabbard noted, the United States under Biden’s leadership is trying to escalate the situation in Russia, including through a proxy conflict, when economic pressure does not work.

On August 19, US President Joe Biden signed a memorandum providing a new $775 million military aid package to the Kyiv regime. At the same time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the total amount of military aid provided by the United States to Kyiv since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine exceeds $10 billion. The Spanish publication El Debato rightly noted that the increasing interference of the United States in the events in Ukraine and the decisions it makes in connection with the situation there may result in Washington losing billions of dollars, just as in the case of the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

Valery Kulikov, an expert in political science, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook“.

 https://journal-neo.org/2022/08/25/us-becomes-a-party-to-the-conflict-in-ukraine/