Many probably jumped at the title, ready to even donate, however do not stress – you already are. The conflict which has flooded every media outlet over the past two months is not only being fought on the territory of Ukraine, or Donbass, or even on the social media platforms where some horrible battles are taking place. It is also being fought behind the scenes, through policy-making processes in the West, and in the neighbouring countries of Ukraine. It is being fought on the global arena, economically, where every single country is somehow participating in the process and you, my fellow taxpayer, are funding it.

The West has always seen Russia as a threat. Even during the years when the Soviet Union was falling apart and its economy was in ruins, when the country was incapable of exerting any sort of positive or negative influence on its neighbours, it was seen as a threat. You can only imagine how its rise over the years was perceived by the United States and its allies, if it was seen as a threat during its most difficult time. The West has invested billions of dollars in constantly attempting to keep Russia from advancing. Professor Mearsheimer has stated on numerous occasions that the decisions to keep Russia down are not favourable to the United States. With each attempt to counter Russian influence, Russia is pushed toward strengthening relations with its partners in the East. According to Mearsheimer’s theory, strengthening of China-Russia relations can only have a negative impact on the United States. He strongly believes that the US would have benefited more had it established greater cooperation with Russia, which would have in turn prevented strengthening of the China-Russia relations. It may be too late now for those theories now.

The United States, however, and its Western allies have been responding to Russia and its advancements by sporadic, ad-hoc investments, which are costing the regular citizens the most. The distance from Washington, DC to Moscow, Russia is 7,816 kilometers. What exactly is the threat posed by Russia to the United States? Many believe it is Russian autocratic leadership and its possession of nuclear weapons. Just to remind you, Russia is not the only country in possession of nuclear weapons and over the years President Putin has actually attempted to establish closer relationship with the West, therefore this train of thought is not very credible. Yet, the United States has introduced a Countering Russian Influence in Europe and Eurasia Act in 2017. What exactly is the purpose of this Act? What business does the United States even have in combating Russian, German, French or whatever other influence in Europe being thousands of kilometers away?

The Act itself states “The Government of the Russian Federation has sought to exert influence throughout Europe and Eurasia, including in the former states of the Soviet Union, by providing resources to political parties, think tanks, and civil society groups…” (US Congress site, complete text of the Act). The text goes on to state that the Russian Federation is in direct violence of the Minsk Agreement which was signed by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany, reinforcing the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for maintaining peace and security in Europe. However, it fails to recognize the fact that OSCE, UNICEF and other international organizations stationed in Ukraine have a number of reports indicating violation of the Minsk Agreement by the Ukrainian forces, the deaths of 14,000 civilians in the Donbass region, predominantly populated by the ethnic Russian people, from 2014 onward. It fails to mention the US role in overthrowing a democratically elected government in Ukraine to install a pro-Western leader. The Act further states that “the United States should continue to work with the European Union as a partner against aggression by the Government of the Russian Federation, coordinating aid programs, development assistance and other counter-Russian efforts.”

As part of the Act, a Countering Russian Influence Fund was established with $250,000,000 for fiscal years 2020-2023. Many are probably aware of where this money is coming from, while they continue to struggle with student loan repayment, covering medical expenses and more. Apart from the initial funding appropriated toward countering Russian influence in Europe, another half a billion dollars has recently been announced by President Biden to be allocated to fifteen countries in Eastern Europe and Eurasia through the Fund. Some of the countries listed as recipients of these funds mainly through the USAID projects are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine. The projects will fund initiatives aimed at building “the capacity of civil society, media and other nongovernmental organizations countering the influence and propaganda of the Russian Federation to combat corruption, prioritize access to truthful information and operate freely…” If you look closely at the text cited from the Act in previous paragraph condemning Russia for exerting its influence through funding the civil society organizations and compare it to the text cited just previously from the Fund – what exactly is the difference? Isn’t the US Congress condemning Russia for the exact same thing the US is doing?!

US and allies, along with their state regulated media, are telling their citizens that Russia is spreading misinformation/disinformation, it’s fighting an information war with the West, yet the Western countries are the ones establishing mechanisms to mainstream the information to their citizens! President Biden has recently announced the establishment of the Disinformation Governance Board to counter “misinformation related to homeland security, focused specifically on irregular migration and Russia” (The Wall Street Journal, May 1st ed.). People of the United States really need a Ministry of Truth to channel all the information into a unified narrative, as if majority of the media outlets, controlled by only a handful of corporations, are already not doing that! US, Canada and their Western European allies have also produced a Handbook on Countering Russian and Chinese Interference in Europe as part of the Kremlin Watch program. Among many other investments, they have also supported design of a Strategy of Constrainment – Countering Russia’s Challenge to the Democratic Order.

Just last month while touring Europe, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau announced that Canada will be renewing an initiative known as the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM). Just as the neighbouring United States, Canada has been pouring millions of dollars into the conflict in Ukraine, into its militarization over the years since its independence in 1991 and into combating Russia’s influence in the region. In addition to all the funding and support Canada has provided, Prime Minister Trudeau announced in March that Canada is committing to spending $13.4 million over a five year period to expand the Rapid Response Mechanism. This amount is on top of a separate $3 million pledge through a different program that will help Ukraine build resilience to disinformation (The Star, March 13th ed.). Disinformation experts from Macdonald-Laurier Institute and Simon Fraser University see the initiative as a mystery, without a clear objective. It focuses on combating Russia’s influence, so it must be legitimate, right? If it was not worrisome that so much effort and funding was being channeled into the initiatives aimed at combating Russia’s influence, it would certainly be humorous!

The so-called Ukrainian freedom the entire West is committing suicide over hosts some of the most notorious organizations, including an NGO called Myrotvorets Centre (Peacemaker Centre) established in 2014 by a Ukrainian politician and activist, Georgy Tuka, which is being led by Roman Zaitsev, former employee of Luhansk Security Service of Ukraine and in cooperation with the government law enforcement and intelligence agency Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The far right organization contains a public database with thousands of names published of those deemed enemies of Ukraine. The database publishes personal data such as full name, date of birth, home address and even the number of the individual’s passport! Most recent names to be added to the list are those of the Hungarian President Victor Orban and Croatian President Zoran Milanovic. IT experts indicate that such personal data could not be collected without the support of foreign intelligence in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine. Is this what West is funding?! Millions of dollars have been received in funding by this organization, including funding in cryptocurrency. If such personal data of Presidents is so easily obtained, shareable and publicized, without any respect to the law, what makes the rest of us protected?

If the citizens of the West live in democracies, should they not have the right to demand that the $13.4 million allocated to combating Russia’s influence (right at its doorstep) are used to strengthen the healthcare system? Maybe the $3 million pledge to Ukraine to build its resilience to Russian disinformation could be used to improve the education system and bridge the gap between the education, which has been lagging behind, and the job market?! Is this not more important than funding NATO and basing Canadian foreign policy on NATO and its expansion? When did the rights and freedoms, wellbeing and living standard of Canadians become secondary to a conflict thousands of miles away or Russia’s influence in countries thousands of miles away?! Are billions of dollars spent by US on funding Ukrainian organizations, which threaten safety and security of other neighbouring countries, not needed at home by many? Recent $33 billion request to be provided to Ukraine could have eradicated poverty in part or could have been used to establish a proper water supply in remote areas which do not have one! Governments of the West should be held just as accountable to their citizens, as they are holding Russia’s government accountable for their internal politics.