The Root causes of the Ukraine-Russia conflict
The whole world is looking on in shock, bewilderment and amazement in recent years. After the horrors of the countless casualties, economic and social devastation of World War II, no one could have imagined that the glittering, peace, democracy, the epicentre of the so-called justice and equality, the promoter and protector of freedom of speech, Europe would once again be engulfed in the devastation of war. Since the end of World War II, the world has witnessed the horrors of many wars in the last 80 years. At least 108 million people lost their lives in terrible wars in the 20th century. The two superpowers have lost countless soldiers in the brutality of the last five decades of war. About sixty thousand American soldiers lost their lives in the Vietnam War. About fifteen thousand Soviet soldiers were killed in Afghanistan and more than thirty thousand soldiers were injured. At least ten wars were fought in 2017 and 9 wars in 2023.
On February 26, 2022, Chinese diplomat published a list of US military operations in which diplomat argued that America is the main obstacle and threat to world peace and that NATO, the EU, and the UK are active partners in this threat. However, today, the United States, Europe, NATO, and other allied countries are blaming Russia for what is happening in Ukraine, the largest country in Eastern Europe. Russia is carrying out a brutal attack on Ukraine without provocation, which is a violation of international law. There are a storm of intense condemnation and hatred and heat. Question is: Who is responsible for this current situation? Why are we all facing a terrible unknown fear and horror today? In this article, I will try to shed light on a simple and analytical explanation of it. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been consistently saying that root cases must be addressed before any peace deal can be concluded. This is echoed by Vladimir Putin on the 17th of December 2025 an expanded meeting of the Defence Ministry Board at the National Defence Control Centre of the Russian Federation. He clearly stated “They are whipping up hysteria, guided by momentary, personal or group political interests rather than the interests of their people. I have said many times that this is a lie and an irrational narrative about an imaginary Russian threat to European countries. But they are doing this deliberately.”
I would like to recall that famous quote by Monroe, “Who is in my backyard?” Indeed, it is. No one wants to cause unrest near their own home. In the context of political science and international relations, this particular saying is used in the context of the traditional areas of US dominance, especially Latin America. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has been informing the US, including NATO, European Union about its national security and also reminding the West of the promises made to expand NATO to Eastern Europe. But there is no wise response from NATO or the United States to this matter, rather it seemed like “Who are you, brother?” Meanwhile, in 2014, with the direct support of the United States, the then democratically elected President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, was overthrown from power through the Maidan Revolution and a puppet government was installed in power, and the subsequent events are more or less known to everyone. Such as the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the occupation of a part of Donbas (Donetsk and Lugansk) by pro-Russian revolutionaries, and a bloody and terrible war that followed in which about fifteen thousand people lost their lives.
On December 17, 2021, Russia sent an agreement called the “Agreement on Security Guarantees between the United States and the Russian Federation” to the United States and NATO. These eight point draft treaty was released by Russia`s foreign ministry and clearly stated that ignoring its interests would lead to a military response similar to the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. The US and NATO, without paying any attention to the main proposals, offered diplomatic talks on a few proposals of their own choice. Naturally, Russia was not satisfied with this and gave NATO a time limit to accept the Russian proposal. For the convenience of the reader, I will now shed some light on the proposals.
The 8-point treaties are: (1) the parties should not strengthen their security at the expense of Russia’s security. All parties shall cooperate on the basis of the principle of indivisible, equal and unlimited security: shall not undertake, participate in or support any activity affecting the security of the other party; (2) the parties will use multilateral consultations and the NATO-Russia Council to address points of conflict. The parties shall ensure that any international organisation, military alliance or coalition in which at least one party participates, adheres to the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations; (3) the parties reaffirm that they do not consider each other as adversaries and maintain a dialogue (4) the parties shall not deploy military forces and weaponry on the territory of any of the other states in Europe in addition to any forces that were deployed as of May 27, 1997. The United States shall undertake to prevent the eastward expansion of NATO and to deny the accession to the alliance of the states of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (5) the parties shall not deploy land-based intermediate- and short-range missiles adjacent to the other parties. The Parties shall refrain from flying heavy bombers equipped for nuclear or non-nuclear weapons or from deploying any type of warship in areas outside national airspace and territorial waters, including in international organisations, military alliances, or coalition structures. (6) all member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation commit themselves to refrain from any further enlargement of NATO, including the accession of Ukraine as well as other States. The Parties shall undertake not to deploy ground-launched intermediate- and short-range missiles outside their national territories, as well as within their national territories, from which such weapons could strike targets in the national territories of the other Party; (7) the parties that are member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization shall not conduct any military activity on the territory of Ukraine as well as other States in the Eastern Europe, in the South Caucasus and in Central Asia. The Parties shall refrain from deploying nuclear weapons outside their national territories and shall eliminate all existing infrastructure for deploying nuclear weapons outside their national territories. (8) the agreement shall not be interpreted as affecting the primary responsibility of the Security Council of the United Nations for maintaining international peace and security.
Were these wasteful agreements worthless? Or were they simply a waste of time for Russia or trans-Atlantic security? Not at all. So why did the US and NATO countries ignore the Russian proposal and create today’s terrible war situation? Is this simply a sincere commitment by the West to self-determination, territorial integrity, or the preservation of democracy and democratic government? Or is it a far-reaching plan to use Ukraine as a trump card to destabilize Russia’s security and push Russia towards war. Let’s take a look at a few things to clarify the matter.
Over the past two decades, the Russian president has repeatedly accused the US and the West of breaking the promise they made during the reunification of the two Germanys in 1990 that NATO will not expand into Eastern Europe. But no one took the Russian president’s accusations seriously, instead repeatedly downplaying them. Some have dismissed them as the ravings of a madman. Russia has been repeatedly portrayed as an aggressor without being attacked. Many might think that it is the aggressor. It has seized Crimea in a flash or has installed a pro-Russian government in the Donbas by starting an unwanted war.
For the past three decades, the entire world has witnessed the armed brutality of NATO and the Americans. NATO forces are waging war everywhere in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan. Brutal brutality against democratically elected governments. The entire world has not protested against that. The Western media has not spoken out against NATO or has anyone imposed any economic sanctions? So why is everyone so worried about Russia's activities today? Why has no Western country taken any meaningful initiative to stop this situation? Since World War II, their sole purpose has been to weaken Russia, to make it a breeding ground, so that their rules can be imposed on others. Russian President Putin's decision to go to war today is an expression of the arrogance and aggression of the West. No peace-loving person in the world wants war. So, West should not say this is an unprovoked conflict.