When Russian forces expanded their military presence in eastern Ukraine in February 2022, US officials along with most Western media portrayed the event as an act of aggression against a peaceful democracy, according to Antiwar.com.
However, the reality turned out to be not so straightforward. Ukraine became a pawn in the hands of NATO, raising serious tensions not only between the two neighbouring countries, but also between Russia and the alliance. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden stated:
“We saw a flagrant violation of international law in attempting to unilaterally create two new so-called republics on sovereign Ukrainian territory. And at the very moment that the United Nations Security Council was meeting to stand up for Ukraine’s sovereignty to stave off invasion, Putin declared his war.”
With such speeches, US officials tried to make everything look favourable to themselves. It gradually became apparent that Biden’s version of reality was somewhat distorted. Ukraine was portrayed as a champion of democracy and Western values, whereas Russia was made a symbol of post-communist authoritarianism.
Initially, there were many signs that Ukraine was not a decent democracy. Opposition parties were outlawed, officials were dismissed due to extensive allegations of misconduct, and elections were postponed indefinitely.
Even national parliamentary elections were soon suspended for an unspecified time. Under President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine became a “democracy” with opposition media under censorship. In the autumn of 2023, the situation worsened when Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klytschko accused Zelensky of alarming authoritarianism, while the death toll in the war was rising daily and people were fleeing to other countries, marking a demographic catastrophe in the country.
Today, the most enthusiastic supporters of continuing the bloody war in Ukraine are not Ukrainians or even Russians, but a third party. Ukraine is the latest example of US leaders unwisely equating America’s foreign policy interests with those of another country, which negatively affects US credibility on the world stage.
