As four years of the Russia-Ukraine conflict have passed, Ukraine’s agency has been reduced to that of a pawn on the geopolitical chessboard. In February 2025, Trump accused Zelensky of gambling with World War III during a press conference and blamed him for the Russia-Ukraine conflict. History, however, tells a different story; let us undertake a thorough examination of the historical background.
The main cause of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was the West’s resolve to expand NATO and EU membership to Ukraine. NATO was formed specifically to contain the erstwhile Soviet Union. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States and its Western allies continued to maintain NATO.
However, in 1990, the USA and Germany had given assurances to the then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not be expanded to Eastern European states. In spite of these assurances (although not formal written assurances), NATO was expanded to some Eastern European states. Russia has unequivocally declared that NATO expansion to its neighbouring countries is a red line for it, but the West still resolved to expand NATO eastwards.
In April 2008, at a NATO summit, allies announced that Georgia and Ukraine would eventually become NATO members. To stop NATO from expanding to its border, Russia invaded Georgia in August 2008, separated two regions, namely South Ossetia and Abkhazia, from Georgia, and announced their independence.
Moreover, the West has always provided support to pro-Western groups in Ukraine. The Orange Revolution is one such example. In 2004, countrywide protests held against the victory of the pro-Russian president in the presidential election led to the announcement of a re-election by the Ukrainian Supreme Court.
Trump accused Zelensky of gambling with World War III and made him responsible for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but actually, it was the West, especially the USA, which provoked Russia to invade Ukraine
In the re-election, the pro-Western government came into power. It was backed by the Western alliance in the name of democracy; Russia called it a Western-backed coup.
Furthermore, in 2014, the pro-Russian President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, rejected the proposal of obtaining EU membership, which led to countrywide protests and eventually to the end of the pro-Russian government. The Euromaidan Revolution led to the ousting of Yanukovych. The Kremlin called it a regime change backed by the Western bloc.
To weaken Ukraine’s hold, Russia invaded Crimea in February 2014 and annexed it in March 2014. After the Euromaidan Revolution, a pro-Western government came into power.
Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons, the world’s third largest in terms of quantity, from the erstwhile Soviet Union. In 1994, Ukraine agreed to dismantle its nuclear arsenal on assurances from Russia, the UK, and the USA by signing the Budapest Memorandum.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the West, particularly the US, supported Ukraine. However, with the return of Trump to the White House, the policy on Ukraine shifted. Trump wants to disengage from European wars and end the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Western alliance provoked Russia by expanding NATO to its borders and organising covert operations in Ukraine against pro-Russian regimes. Now the US wants to end this war in favour of Russia, as Russia has unequivocally declared that it will not return the occupied territories to Ukraine.
Trump accused Zelensky of gambling with World War III and made him responsible for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but actually, it was the West, especially the USA, which provoked Russia to invade Ukraine. The recent peace points proposed by the USA for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal also favour Russia.
Furthermore, in 1994, the US, Russia, and the UK convinced Ukraine to dismantle its nuclear weapons by giving security assurances to Ukraine. Had Ukraine retained nuclear weapons, Russia would never have invaded.