Conflict in Ukraine has been raging for eight full years now, despite intensified mainstream media efforts to report on it over the past ten months only. West turned a blind eye to suffering of predominantly ethnic Russian population in the eastern part of Ukraine for years: residents of Donbass also had blackouts due to the shelling by Ukrainian Armed Forces; they also lacked running water. However, the little reporting done on these issues by the western media focused on a falsely created narrative that these were separatists who were shelling their own. It was very clear at the time, just like it is crystal clear today when many pray for peace, that peace was always in President Putin’s workbook, while West undertook every action at its disposal to prevent any attempt at negotiating.

Among many attempts in the past, such as the Minsk Agreements being the well-known negotiated peace framework, President Putin and the government of Russian Federation drafted two separate agreements exactly a year ago in another attempt to settle disputes and preserve peace, along with preserving Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders: Agreement on Measures to Ensure the Security of The Russian Federation and Member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Security Guarantees. The effort was completely disregarded by the western allies. Its aim was quickly distorted by the western propaganda machine, which was already fully operational both in the United States/Western Europe and on the ground, in Ukraine. On December 17th, 2021, from New York Times to Reuters and The Guardian, headlines across the mainstream media read: Russia makes a list of demands. False accusations began before any effort was put forth by the allies to review the document and its possibility of serving as a basis for producing a counter response, which could have been build upon had there been any serious effort to preserve peace and Ukraine’s borders. Lack of interest to implement Minsk Agreements, or to further the prospect of peace by proposal from last December, only confirms that Russia is the only state which sought to preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Its so-called friends did not.

Ukraine’s government did not fall for false promises of the allies that Ukraine would be incorporated into European and other international structures quickly with their open-door policy. The Kiev regime rather saw an opportunity in utilizing all means possible, especially in the media sphere, to present Russia as a predator state. Its policymakers were convinced that Ukraine was too important to the United States and Western Europe to simply allow its absorption by Russia, therefore the goal of their policies to present Russia as a predator was mainly to get as many economic, military and political advantages as possible.

Alexander Motyl described the situation as follows some time ago: Although the possibility of war is not as far-fetched as one would like it to be, it would not work to Ukraine’s disadvantage. Indeed, the emergence of a genuinely hostile Russia would translate into Ukraine’s rapid integration into European economic and security structures and its concomitant transformation into a client state of the United States. As an East European version of South Korea, Ukraine would become the recipient of large-scale Western — in particular, American — military and economic assistance that would guarantee its stability, if not its prosperity. …Russia’s aggressiveness, therefore, could be Ukraine’s salvation. (Will Ukraine Survive 1994? A. Motyl)

Except Ukraine’s rapid integration into the European economic and security structures is not on the horizon. No union is eager to incorporate a failed state which would require an endless supply of funding to be rebuilt and to keep its economy alive. Recent announcement of Ukraine being granted a European Union candidate status only represents carrot and stick politics of the West, or in other words it serves the purpose of an incentive for Ukraine to continue fighting and sending its youth right into death, while the truth, many are oblivious to, is that it will take many years before Ukraine becomes a member. It is doubtful that EU will exist in its current form (considering deep divisions between member states) when the time comes for Ukraine to become a member.

President Putin, on many occasions, has stated that Russia was ready for peace. He was ready to make certain concessions, while Ukrainian President stated that Ukraine could live with neutrality, during peace negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, at the very beginning of the special military operation. Many world leaders welcomed this development, which was quickly thwarted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Kiev, during which he convinced Zelensky that it was not time for peace. Whatever coercive measures were applied, they certainly had the desired effect, as Zelensky quickly negated his desire to continue with the peace agreement and, in addition, signed a decree which currently prevents him from negotiating with Kremlin under current leadership. In an interview with David Letterman, Zelensky associated President Putin’s death with the end of conflict in Ukraine. A very disturbing fact is that any peace plan proposed by individuals across a wide spectrum of professional backgrounds grants them a place on Ukraine’s “kill list” Myrotvorets, where they are labelled as enemies of Ukraine. So Henry Kissinger’s proposed peace plan has secured him a spot in the database, as did Elon Musk’s plan for Mr. Musk, and more recently French President Macron came under fire for stating the obvious for anyone in their right mind-a peace must be negotiated and Russia’s security concerns must be taken into account.

West, therefore, continues its spending spree at the expense of its own citizens to ensure continuation of hostilities. Recently announced US budget, which was presented during Zelensky’s visit to Washington, contains a $45 billion in military aid for Ukraine. They are not kidding when they say they will support Ukraine to the last Ukrainian. Also, one must understand that Zelensky cannot simply negotiate now-the time is not right-too many Ukrainian soldiers and their families have suffered for the goals of a few and any negotiations at this point, when the country is collapsing and losing both its infrastructure and manpower, would put his life in serious danger. So he continues to put pressure on his generals to carry out another counteroffensive in order to justify billions recently announced by the West, completely disregarding the refusal for such acts coming from the front lines daily now.

Many western military experts have concluded long ago that Ukraine has lost this battle. It would be a pity for it to have similar fate as Afghanistan and to drag along almost the entire European continent. Yet, the current crisis which Ukraine actually symbolizes is much greater than the localized conflict in Ukraine-it stretches far beyond Ukraine’s borders and reaches every corner of the world. Even if peace was achieved in Ukraine today by some miracle, the global crisis symbolized by the current affairs unfolding in Ukraine will last for many more years. This is not a simple boxing match between Zelensky and Putin, which Zelensky recently expressed the desire to hold in an interview with French national television station. It is a much more complex and layered global conflict. Despite what one may read in the mainstream newspapers on a daily basis, it is not the news but rather the processes unfolding which should be paid attention to. These processes are shaping one big multipolar picture, with new centers of power emerging, which will pave the path to a more equal and just development for all.