The eagerly awaited “written response” from the U.S. and NATO to Russia’s security proposals is now in the hands of President Vladimir Putin. And yet there is no sign the West caved in on Moscow’s insistence that NATO rescind its 14 year-old invitation to Ukraine to join NATO.

Ending The Ukraine Crisis Requires Negotiation and Compromise

There’s an evil Russian plot again, according to more anonymous sources.

Threats and counter-threats flying between Washington and Moscow over Ukraine have caused a flurry of fear and confusion that escalates and expands daily. Is the world on the brink of war? What is it about, who is the aggressor and who is to blame?

Americans have long held complicated feelings about Russia and Russians. This is as true today, well into the twenty-first century, as it was in the twentieth century and earlier. But all Western nations have had complicated feelings about this continent-country, Westerners always feeling a developmental-societal distance from their Eurasian neighbor. Western views of Russia have often entailed condescension and mistrust, and Russia has long served as a powerful “other” as Westerners pursued their interests. Meanwhile, Americans now operate in a global reality where they are no longer the sole world power. Americans are uncomfortable engaging in a multi-polar system where powers such as China and Russia can openly disregard American preferences.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answers to media questions at a news conference following talks on security guarantees with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Geneva, January 21, 2022.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed publicly in Geneva on Friday, January 21, that he will not negotiate a no-war agreement with the Russians because he cannot. This is already understood by the Russians; by the French and Germans; and by several senior officials of the Biden Administration.

The world is entering what looks like a new, even more complex cold war, in which any misunderstanding, mishap or false move could rapidly escalate into nuclear confrontation

In mid-December 2021, the Russian government publicly announced that it would “seek legally formulated guarantees of security” from the United States and its allies that would end NATO military activity in eastern Europe as well as military support for the Ukraine.

As the U.S. moves nuclear forces closer and closer to the border of Russia, and as our corporate media bang their war drums louder and louder, does anyone remember the Cuban missile crisis?