Putin wants Biden to finally face up to an unpleasant dilemma. The message is simple: Washington needs to brace itself for its partner Ukraine to be soundly defeated militarily in what would be an especially humiliating re-run of recent events in Afghanistan. Or it can back down and reach a compromise with Moscow over Ukraine.

Instead of doing further damage to Ukraine, policymakers should take to heart the pluricultural nature of Ukrainian society, and also reflect on America’s poor track record in trying to manage the internal affairs of other countries.

Fierce battles and political tensions have been swirling around Eastern Ukraine in recent weeks. But at times, it’s not even clear who is party to the conflict, and the confusion is at the heart of a growing information war.

GBN in Britain beats BBC and Sky

But what would all those DC national security pundits (and their journalist friends) do with their ample time if peace breaks out in Ukraine?

Once again, the United States and some of its security clients in Eastern Europe are doing their utmost to create a crisis atmosphere with respect to Russia. A key player in that effort is the government of Ukraine. As Ukrainian officials did in April 2021, they are again highlighting allegedly suspicious Russian troop movements near the border between the two countries in late October and early November. Ukrainian leaders contend that such maneuvers might well be the prelude to a military offensive.

Written exclusively for the NCW website by Ukraine expert Dmitriy Kovalevich, this month he investigates the rumours and the reasons behind them that are currently circulating in the Ukraine’s and in some western media of an imminent threat of invasion by Russia.

The charade has come to a point that – diplomatically – is quite unprecedented: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lost his Taoist patience.

This past April, it appeared as if Russian President Vladimir Putin was preparing for a full-fledged invasion of Ukrainian territory. As many as 110,000 Russian troops, alongside additional military trucks, tanks and other armored vehicles, were being positioned close to Ukraine’s border in what the U.S. and Europe described as a highly publicized attempt at Russian coercion. Fortunately, a military incursion never occurred.

On Tuesday, 23 November, Russia’s most senior military general, Valery Gerasimov, had a “deconfliction” phone conference with US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, in which the two discussed “pressing issues of international security.”