US Secretly Gains from Ukrainian Conflict*

*Editor’s note: On March 4, 2022, Russia enacted a law that criminalizes public opposition to, or independent news reporting about, the war in Ukraine. The law makes it a crime to call the war a “war” rather than a “special military operation” on social media or in a news article or broadcast. The law is understood to penalize any language that “discredits” Russia’s use of its military in Ukraine, calls for sanctions or protests Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It punishes anyone found to spread “false information” about the invasion with up to 15 years in prison.

Has Washington become involved in the Ukrainian conflict to better prepare itself for the upcoming confrontation with Beijing? U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken certainly hinted at this during his visit to Helsinki. Needless to say, he’s not being entirely truthful because it’s clear that the U.S. benefits from the conflict in other ways. It’s good that Blinken tries to hide this because his incompetence only helps Russia.

During his visit to Helsinki, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed a question that has long puzzled the international community: Has America benefited from the conflict in Ukraine? His answer surprised many.

According to Blinken, the Ukrainian conflict has increased Washington’s ability to respond to potential threats posed by China. It is clear that Washington has already gained some invaluable experience by waging a proxy war against Russia, so if Beijing decides to use force against Taiwan, the U.S. is fully prepared to confront China.

Blinken’s statement is truly a bizarre blend of cunning, idiocy and deceit. It’s cunning because Blinken hasn’t mentioned how the U.S. has really benefited from the conflict. He obviously did this on purpose since it’s rather scandalous to talk openly about Washington’s gains.

First of all, American energy corporations have gained a significant chunk of the European market, which had previously belonged to Russia. It comes as no surprise that the energy crisis triggered by the sanctions war allowed these companies to make super-profits last year while guaranteeing more profits for years to come.

It is worth noting that American energy companies can push their interests as effectively as any Wall Street financier. Defense contractors are only slightly behind the biggest energy companies in terms of their efficiency, but they have also benefited from Kyiv’s contracts.

Second, the U.S., which has suddenly become an island of energy stability, is actively seeking ways to attract European manufacturers. New manufacturing jobs have been, and still are, what America needs; otherwise, Donald Trump would have never won the presidential election in 2016.

American profits mean losses for European countries. This situation is so infuriating that they can no longer ignore it. In fact, French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly complained that this situation is completely unfair. Although Americans are still trying to soften the blow, they can already reply to Macron by asking, “Come on, what did you think would happen?”

Third, Brussels is becoming increasingly dependent on Washington – yet another gain for America in this conflict. The U.S. is becoming increasingly involved in solving EU economic and political issues. The current conflict in Eastern Europe helps the U.S. control its European allies while preventing them from conducting constructive relations with Russia, something which used to be possible despite political differences.

However, this strategy has turned out to be a complete fiasco on the global front. Even reliable American allies like Pakistan or Colombia refused to be dragged into a direct confrontation with Russia. Yet, it worked well in Europe, and even NATO managed to quickly expand northward.

Fourth, Washington is trying to weaken Moscow because it dared to challenge U.S. global dominance. It is true that America also suffers from this conflict, but its losses are minimal. That said, more countries are beginning to fear the U.S. dollar because Washington is now openly using it as a whip.

The fact that America is losing its allies in the global south exposes Blinken’s lies in Helsinki. It is not the U.S. that is learning from this conflict, it is China that is studying warfare tactics the United State is using against Russia. China is meticulously studying them to cover its vulnerabilities. This doesn’t bode well for Washington.

Contrary to what President Joe Biden promised a year ago, Washington has neither succeeded in crashing the Russian economy nor in isolating it from the world economy. Washington has managed only to partially isolate Russia from Europe. It is clear that this approach will never work with China. Having learned from this conflict, China is obviously confident that it can confront the U.S. If Washington prevents Beijing from uniting its country through politics and diplomacy, Chinese President Xi Jinping may indeed resort to the use of force.

It’s foolish to provoke him, but that’s exactly what the Americans are doing. It’s hard to imagine what Blinken was thinking when he stated how Washington is benefiting from the Ukrainian conflict. China will inevitably think that Blinken was bragging about American success and also threatening Beijing, which will only strengthen the Russia-China alliance despite Washington’s desperate attempts to prevent this from happening. Even though Beijing vehemently denies that its strategic cooperation with Moscow can threaten other countries, Americans are not convinced.

Blinken’s foolishness is merely his problem and definitely not a problem for the American establishment because, unlike Blinken, the establishment views the Russia-China alliance with caution and fear.

Moreover, Blinken has repeatedly complicated Washington’s relations with Beijing. By winning the 2020 presidential election, Biden could have reset American-Chinese relations, especially after the Chinaphobic Donald Trump, something that business in both countries wanted. Furthermore, Biden was previously very good at establishing contacts with the Chinese and personally with Xi. All hopes came crashing down after the first U.S.-China summit with Blinken. Blinken’s uncompromising and ideologized approach didn’t work with China in Alaska. His attempt to lecture the guests on human rights provoked a very harsh response from Eastern diplomats.

From that point on, Blinken has managed to damage American-Chinese relations in every way possible, sometimes unintentionally. He really doesn’t understand how to deal with China, while Biden can’t back him up anymore because he’s too old for that.

It is believed that Biden keeps Blinken around simply because he is used to working with him, and they have been working together for decades. As the 2024 presidential election approaches, Blinken may lose his job and become a scapegoat for all the foreign policy failures of the current administration.

Indeed, he is responsible for many of them, so if he gets kicked off the cabinet, then good riddance! However, despite his Russophobic rhetoric and awkward attempts to lie, Russia doesn’t want Blinken to leave because he is clearly hurting the American cause, which benefits Moscow.