The World Doesn’t See an End at the One-Year Anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine War

The Russia-Ukraine war has been proceeding for one year. It has not been a short time for the world, unsure when to expect an end that will bring peace back. The war’s ending is hopeless at its one-year anniversary.

Starting with the “special military operation” claimed by Vladimir Putin when he waged the war of invading Ukraine, a sovereign neighboring country that Putin feared would join NATO soon.   

This year, Putin changed its name of “a special operation” to “a war” when he delivered his address to the Federal Assembly at the State of Union in Moscow, on Feb.21., reflecting the military situation has been transformed significantly.

It is an illusion that Russia will retreat from Ukraine soon, except that Ukraine was defeated, which is an impossible outcome to happen, due to the U.S.’s continuous financial and military support. 

It is an endless war between Russia and the U.S.

According to the U.S. Department of State, since January 2021, the United States has invested more than $32.4 billion in security assistance to demonstrate enduring and steadfast commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. 

The immense amount of military assistance to Ukraine from the U.S. have pushed the war to an indefinite future. Under the name of supporting Ukraine, the underlined purpose of the U.S. is aiming to drag Russia to death through the war. 

But it is not as simple as the U.S. planned in the beginning. In the wake of Russia’s resilient defense, which surprised the U.S. government and disordered the pre-arranged calculations, on the contrary, Russia’s economy is becoming better after the one-year war experience, under the severe economic sanctions of European countries.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Russia’s economy is expected to grow faster than that of the U.S. in 2024. The IMF predicted that the Russian GDP would rebound slightly in 2023, and in 2024, the Russian economy is predicted to grow by 2.1 percent.

It is not good news to end the war with Russia’s rebound financial status that is signaling the failure of the U.S. plot’s effectiveness.

And the worst is beyond that. According to Statista, in February 2023, over 80 percent of Russians approved of the activities of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The popularity level saw an increase compared to September 2022, which means Russian civilians intend to be unified under Putin’s leadership to fight back against the international hostile bully.

The prolonged war made the U.S. government plunge into an embarrassing situation. The current spectacle caught the U.S. in a dilemma to continue the war. President Biden’s unannounced and surprised visit to Ukraine on Feb. 20, 2023, showed the decision to the world. 

President Biden’s visit to Ukraine verified the war clearer, which is the war between the U.S. and Russia, and the goal is to eliminate Russia from the world through a proxy war with Ukraine as a scapegoat. 

But it is hard to win the war, and the world is worrying about what the next thing will happen when the two superpowers that possess the strongest nuclear warfare capabilities clash on the battleground. 

It is not the first time for Russian President Vladimir Putin to send a nuclear threat to the world.  

On Feb. 28, 2023, Putin signed a bill formally suspending the last remaining nuclear arms treaty with the United States, amid soaring tensions with Washington over Moscow’s action in Ukraine, According to ABC news. The Nuclear threat to the world has escalated.

At the same time, China is strengthening its support to Russia, including military aid which is a big concern to the U.S. and is another factor in deciding an endless to the war. 

The U.S. said Chinese firms have already provided “non-lethal support” to Russia, and that it has new information suggesting Beijing could soon provide “lethal support”, according to BBC News. 

As the most important trading partner, China and Russia currently enjoy the best relations and the Chinese government refused to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

If China ultimately chooses to provide lethal military weapons to Russia, the war will be changed worldwide between the Western side with the leader of the U.S. and NATO, and the Eastern side with the leaders of the alliance of China and Russia against the U.S. 

It is still too early to say that NATO’s plan to defeat Russia by carrying out large-scale economic sanctions from the U.S. and the European countries and providing a large number of military arms to Ukraine is failing. But it is a fact that the longer the war lasts, the possibility to achieve the goal will be small and uncertain. 

It is impossible for Russia to end the war voluntarily. So, how to end the war is a thorny problem for western countries to deal with, especially for the U.S. which has been involved in the war deeply.  It is a big bet, where the U.S. is also on the edge of dragging itself into a risky plight by the war and will be hard to get the win.