How the west brought war to Ukraine - Benjamin Abelow

“We will fight to the last Ukrainian for Ukrainian independence.”

Chas Freeman, previously Assistant Secretary of Defence for International Security Affairs,

Here is the summary of the provocations elaborated in this book.

Expanded NATO over a thousand miles eastward, pressing it toward Russia’s borders, in disregard of assurances previously given to Moscow

Withdrawn unilaterally from the Antiballistic Missile Treaty and placed antiballistic launch systems in newly joined NATO countries. These launchers can also accommodate and fire offensive nuclear weapons at Russia, such as nuclear-tipped Tomahawk cruise missiles

Helped lay the groundwork for, and may have directly instigated, an armed, far-right coup in Ukraine. This coup replaced a democratically elected pro-Russian government with an unelected pro-Western one

Conducted countless NATO military exercises near Russia’s border. These have included, for example, live-fire rocket exercises whose goal was to simulate attacks on air-defense systems inside Russia

Asserted, without pressing strategic need, and in disregard of the threat such a move would pose for Russia, that Ukraine would become a NATO member. NATO then refused to renounce this policy even when doing so might have averted war

Withdrawn unilaterally from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, increasing Russian vulnerability to a U.S. first strike

Armed and trained the Ukrainian military through bilateral agreements and held regular joint military training exercises inside Ukraine. The goal has been to produce NATO-level military interoperability even before formally admitting Ukraine into NATO

Led the Ukrainian leadership to adopt an uncompromising stance toward Russia, further exacerbating the threat to Russia and putting Ukraine in the path of Russian military blowback

This is not a full analysis of how we ended up at war with Russia by any means. It only collects these actions by the west that can and clearly are seen as provocations and a threat to Russia's security. I have more to learn about this conflict but understanding how the west has pushed Russia's buttons and poked the bear I do think is useful.

Update 10th June 2023: Robbert Kennedy Jr. running for president of the US 2024 shares his views on the Ukraine conflict: