'Ukraine's stance doesn't matter' in standoff with Russia as US willing to fight: Analyst

Any attempts by Ukraine to discuss de-escalation with Russia or to create an environment conducive to talks face a strong headwind from the US and the UK, whose governments have continued to express their willingness to fight, a British foreign affairs analyst said. Speaking to Sputnik, Adriel Kasonta, a London-based foreign affairs analyst and former chairman of the International Affairs Committee at the Bow Group think tank, claimed that the “Ukrainian stance doesn’t matter”. 

Kasonta stated that the last few days have proved that neither the Biden administration nor the mainstream media in the West care about the Ukrainian perspective. He noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky contradicted US President Joe Biden’s claims about a potential Russian invasion in the coming days, saying that “one seemed to pay much attention to what he was saying”. 

“As we know, all the information about the alleged ‘invasion’ and ‘war’ have been coming from US intelligence, not from Ukraine,” Kasonta pointed out.

Further, Adriel Kasonta went on to say that “Ukrainian hawks” have acknowledged the reality long before the current standoff, however, he also added that they have never been true masters to their own fate. According to Kasonta, the fact that Ukraine’s ambassador in London has been forced to backtrack on his previous comments made to the BBC that his country is willing to be “flexible” on its ambition to join NATO proves his point that Kyiv is “just another pawn on the grand chessboard used by the US to advance their goals in Eastern Europe”. 

Ukraine-Russia crisis 

Meanwhile, amid tension between Russia and the West, Ukraine is facing an increasingly difficult situation in trying to prepare for the worst while living with uncertainty as to what Moscow will decide to do. This uncertainty has only been heightened by a major gap between US' warnings about a Russian invasion of Ukraine and Kyiv’s determination not to cause panic in the face of aggression from its neighbouring country. Notably, the United States has repeatedly warned that a Russian attack could be imminent, which has led countries including Canada, Germany, and the UK to order its diplomats stationed in Kyiv to depart the city. 

However, even with rising fears of a Russian invasion, the Ukrainian President has engaged in diplomacy even as no clear path to settlement is in focus. Zelensky has criticised the evacuation of diplomats as needlessly alarmist and remained defiant, playing down the threat to his country. The Ukrainian leader said that the “best friend for enemies is panic in our country”. Speaking to reporters, Zelensky said that he has “a lot of information” that he would analyse without sowing panic. He also added that if Western powers had any firm evidence of an impending invasion, he had yet to see it. 

(Image: AP)