Origins of the war in Ukraine

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By ALEXANDRE ARAGÃO DE ALBUQUERQUE*

The so-called West claims to have the monopoly on truth and the exclusivity of aggression.

“The beginning of any new war usually takes place at the end of the previous one” (Viktor Medvedchuk).

The conflict in Ukraine, involving the so-called, imperialist, US-NATO led West against Russia, was preceded by the Cold War. Everything starts from the conception around the end result of that “cold conflict”. For US-NATO, Russia was the supposed loser; consequently, it became “easy prey” to be controlled by the conquering western empire. For this power bloc, the territories bordering Russia are zones of influence of the West, and the Russians do not have any claims, becoming “unfounded” the defense of their interests in the region, representing a “clear attack” to the determinations and objectives of the US-NATO.

As Margareth Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979-1990), “We no longer need to look at the world through the prism of East-West relations because the Cold War is over. Russia's position in the East is no longer important. There is a vector, an owner of the world, a winner”. This so-called West claims to have the monopoly on truth and the exclusivity of aggression: no country in the world has as many military bases abroad as the US, the entire planet is full of them.

But Russia takes a different look at the issue. She doesn't see herself as a loser at all. On the contrary, through the democratic reforms introduced by their governments, both in politics and in the economy, nuclear military confrontation was replaced by international trade, leading to integration with the West, making former enemies friends. Therefore, a great victory for her and for the world, due to the end of a war and its nuclear threat, transformed into an egalitarian cooperation and joint construction of a new political and economic reality, mainly since the creation in 1992 of the Union European Union (EU), which included Russia, which saw itself as a full member of this new union.

These two antagonistic approaches will guide future events.

From there, Russia quickly began its integration into the European market, much faster, for example, than Ukraine, due to the enormous energy resources demanded by Europe, while Ukraine is unable to buy energy resources at European prices. It is important to point out that the independence of Ukraine in the 1990s could have ended in economic collapse if it had not been for the performance of the territories of southeastern Ukraine (Russophone and Russophile) that incorporated Ukraine into the international division of labor due to its enormous production capacity and developed industry.

Despite this historical fact being omitted by the West, it was the southeast, with the Donbass region involving Donetsk and Luhansk, that saved Ukraine's economy and with it its political independence, obtained in 1991. Therefore, it is important to record that Ukraine has strong historical links with Russia, being part of this country for more than 300 years, producing a strong impact on its culture, ethnic composition and mentality, nurturing fraternal relations and mutual sympathies, a relationship infinitely closer than that existing between the United Kingdom and Canada, for example.

However, the growth of Russia and its integration into Europe is now feared by the US, which declares this Russian influence as dangerous, criminal and corrupt. Western colonizing empire thinking cannot tolerate the economic growth and autonomy of a distant colony. The Peripheries cannot surpass the Centre, either financially, politically or culturally. As NATO's first Secretary General (1952-1957), Hastings Ismay, emphatically put it: "The purpose of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance is to keep the Soviet Union out of Europe, the Americans in, and the Germans down." US inside Europe, Russia outside. This is the heart of the current confrontation. In other words, the US-NATO interventionist military force overlapped and destroyed the possibility of unity between nations, in this case, of integration into the European Union.

The famous and competent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a bombshell revelation on February 08 (How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline) describing in detail how the US Navy bombed the Nord Stream, a work of Russian-German engineering (Gazprom) that would allow Germany to import Russian natural gas at much cheaper prices and faster and safer transport than gas imported from the USA. Seymour Hersh revealed that as early as June 2022, the US Navy planted explosives on Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which were detonated remotely on September 26.

The article was met with complete silence in major US corporate media publications, shattering the entire narrative of US non-involvement in the war waged on Ukrainian territory. This operation, according to Seymour Hersh, was ordered by President Joe Biden and planned by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. And by International Law, Germany should have declared war on the US in the face of such armed aggression; but since she is subdued, she has become mute. Furthermore, the destruction of the Nord Stream makes Europe more dependent on imports of American natural gas, replacing Russian gas, corresponding to an important US objective in the Ukraine war from the beginning: to bring Europe more firmly under its control.

Ukraine was subjected to a hybrid war in 2014 (in Brazil this hybrid war began with the 2013 journeys, bringing Brazilian neo-fascism to power in 2018), imposing on that country an educational, cultural and media change, under the pretext of reforms democratic, fostering a strong process of manipulation of Ukrainian public opinion (disinformation), stoking Ukrainian hatred of the Russian people (as happened here with the anti-PT and anti-Lulist campaign). Volodymyr Zelensky, aka the US-NATO puppet, was thrust into power promising peace, but became the personification of war.

To move his project forward, he crushed any kind of internal opposition to his government. Politicians, journalists, social activists who defended peace and good relations with neighboring Russia were repressed, with their press vehicles closed, without any legal basis and their assets looted, being considered “traitors” by the Zelensky government. In short, the peace party was considered a traitor, and the war party took the course of power.

On Tuesday, 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a strong speech to the Federal Assembly of Russia in the face of the worsening of the crisis through the unexpected visit of Joe Biden to Kiev, capital of Ukraine. In a detailed analysis of the crisis, Putin pointed out that in 2014 it was necessary to be on standby due to the coup d'état in Ukraine that put a neo-Nazi regime in power. Since then, the Ukrainian region of Donbass has resisted, defending the right to live in its land, to speak its native language, fighting and not surrendering despite the blockades and constant bombing launched against civilians by artillery, tanks and planes, out of hatred not disguised as Kiev.

According to Vladimir Putin, the promises of Western leaders consisted of forgeries, cruel lies, as they encouraged Ukrainian neo-Nazis to commit terrorist acts against the population of the Donbass region, gambling with people's lives, as occurred in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Syria. . Ukrainian neo-Nazi militias were trained in western military academies and schools, receiving weapons and ammunition. In addition, US-NATO was rapidly deploying military bases and secret biological laboratories near Russia's borders.

Vladimir Putin also recorded that, according to the assessment of American experts themselves, the wars unleashed by the United States since 2001 have killed nearly 900 people and more than 38 million have become refugees. “Now they just want to erase all of this from humanity's memory and pretend it never happened. But no one in the world will forget,” said the Russian president.

On the so-called West's attempt to ignite a hybrid war deep inside Russian territory, Putin warned: “We are a different country. Russia has a different character, we will never give up our love for the Motherland, trust in the values ​​and customs of our ancestors, respect for all peoples and cultures. We remember how Russia's enemies tried to use terrorist gangs against us, seeking to sow ethnic and religious rivalry to weaken us and divide us from the inside out. None of that worked. I am proud, I think we are all proud, that our multi-ethnic people, the absolute majority of citizens, took a principled position on the special military operation, understood the meaning of the actions we are doing, supporting our actions to protect Donbass . Russia will rise to any challenge, because we are all one country, one great and united people. We are sure of ourselves, we are sure of our strengths”.

Starting today, February 24, the second year of the US-NATO war against Russia on Ukrainian territory will begin. One wonders: will the world leaders, for another year, remain paralyzed in the search for peace, allowing the continuity of this war whose victorious, until now, is the war industry?

*Alexandre Aragão de Albuquerque Master in Public Policy and Society from the State University of Ceará (UECE).

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