The Western Paradox in the Ukranian Crisis

To control Russia, the United States has finally opened up its wallet to foot the bill for the Ukrainian crisis. The House of Representatives passed a bill to provide financial aid for Ukraine and its neighboring countries, and sanctions on Russia with a landslide vote last week.

Now that you are thinking about it, although the national interests and goals of the U.S. and Europe are highly similar, they are also paradoxical at the same time.

The result of the referendum in the Crimean Peninsula on joining Russia has become reality, and the tussle between the U.S. and Russia is reminiscent of the Cold War era. The U.S. hopes that bodies like the European Union will cooperate in increasing the pressure on Russia, but with the EU bogged down by the European debt crisis, excluding Germany, overall economic growth can be said to be less than energetic. With the addition of a lack of financial clout, how can the EU possibly stand on the same front as the U.S. and defend Ukrainian territorial sovereignty? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Besides, Europe and Russia have always had unique geopolitical relations. Under the push of global economic integration, the fundamental reliance of many European countries on Russian energy is getting stronger, while trade relations between wealthy European and Russian merchants are also far closer than those with American merchants. If Moscow cuts off its natural gas supply and ends trade relations, the European economy will be devastated. And then, will the United States, far on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, be able to save it?

The U.S. Department of Energy promised in mid-March that it would release as much as 5 million barrels of oil reserves to Europe. This kind of “money and oil supply” is without a doubt an encouragement, so that Europe will “daringly” sanction Russia. In the long term, however, the U.S. economy may also be encumbered.

Although the U.S. and Europe have a common goal and interest in preventing Ukraine from falling back into Russian hands, both have different strategic goals. Europe wants to be on an equal footing with the United States, whereas the U.S. desires total hegemony. The U.S. has “used and controlled”* the EU, just to make Russia’s power decline. If the U.S. loses Europe as an “ally,” it will lose its control over both Europe and Russia, and its dominating position will not be secure.

*Editor’s note: The quotations in this article, accurately translated, could not be verified.