Ukraine: A Flashpoint or Diversion?

Jawahar Bhagwat writes:

The present flashpoint in Ukraine may indicate today’s gravest geopolitical crisis since World War II, and a possible global war looms if the Western media is to be believed. The President of the United States (US) Joe Biden indicated to Ukrainian leader that there was a distinct possibility that Russia could intervene in Ukraine in February. In turn, the Ukrainian President, in a public statement, expressed disagreement about the imminence of war, though he qualified it by saying that escalation is possible. The statements by the two leaders indicate a lack of consensus about the actual situation. According to the Western mainstream media, the crisis has arisen due to the massing of 1,00,000 Russian troops that may lead to a possible Russian incursion into Ukraine and the annexation of Donbass. However, one must not lose sight of the fact that the US’s pivot is global, in pursuit of unchallenged worldwide dominance, leading to multiple direct and proxy wars. The Washington elite dominated by neo-liberalism seeks to marginalise its Russian and Chinese rivals, surrounding both countries with the US bases. Ukraine is the aim of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) eastward march to instal missile defence sites on Russia’s very border.