|
|
Russia-Ukraine war: How the US paved the way to Moscow's invasion
Cook, Jonathan
http://www.jonathan-cook.net/2023-01-10/russia-ukraine-war-us-pave-invasion/Date Written: 2023-01-10 Publisher: Middle East Eye Year Published: 2023 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX24816 Nearly a year after Russia's invasion, the western narrative of an 'unprovoked' attack has become impossible to sustain. Abstract: - Excerpt: Ultra-nationalist Ukrainian forces intensified the shelling of the Donbas in the weeks before the invasion. At the same time, Zelensky shuttered critical media outlets, and would soon be banning opposition political parties and requiring Ukrainian media to implement a 'unified information policy'. As tensions mounted, the Ukrainian president threatened to develop nuclear weapons and seek a fast-track Nato membership that would further mire the West in the slaughter in the Donbas and risk engagement with Russia directly. It was then, after 14 years of US meddling on Russia’s borders, that Moscow sent in its soldiers - 'unprovoked'. Putin's initial goal, whatever the western media narrative said, appeared to be as light a touch as possible given Russia was launching an illegal invasion. From the outset, Russia could have carried out its current, devastating attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, closing transport links and turning the lights off in much of the country. But it appeared to consciously avoid a US-style shock-and-awe campaign. Instead it initially concentrated on a show of force. Moscow mistakenly seems to have assumed Zelensky would accept Kyiv had overplayed its hand, realise that the US - thousands of miles away - could not serve as a guarantor of its security, and be pressured into disarming the ultra-nationalists who had been targeting Russian communities in the east for eight years. That is not how things played out. Seen from Moscow's perspective, Putin's error looks less like he launched an unprovoked war against Ukraine than that he delayed too long in invading. Ukraine's military 'interoperability' with Nato was far more advanced than Russian planners seem to have appreciated. Subject Headings |