The United States really spent a lot of money this time and will continue the Russia-Ukraine conflict at all costs.
The U.S. State Department website stated on July 9, local time, that the United States will provide an additional $400 million in military assistance to Ukraine , including weapons and equipment.
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the total amount of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine has exceeded 7.32 billion U.S. dollars, and the amount of aid in the past few weeks alone has reached a peak of 2.2 billion U.S. dollars.
Fox News Network in the United States did some calculations. In the first five years of the Afghan War, the United States only had 7.4 billion U.S. dollars. However, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has only been fought for a few months, and military assistance alone has already equaled this figure. . does not count the rest of the financial aid, security support, etc. If these figures are included, a rough estimate may reach 8 billion US dollars.
The US aid is not in vain. On the battlefield of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it will still cause considerable resistance to the Russian offensive. Especially after assisted "Predator" drone and "Haimas" multiple rocket launcher system , the progress of the Russian army in Odessa and Donbas areas was obviously delayed, and even retreat.
According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, on July 9, the Ukrainian army repelled the Russian army in the directions of Kharkov , Donetsk Slavyansk and Seversk. army's attack.
Now the conflict between Russia and Ukraine can be said to have entered the stage of strategic stalemate, and it has also met the expectations of NATO , that is, Russia is deeply mired in war.
In fact, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a bottomless pit for both sides. The Russian army chose to adopt a multi-front combat method in order to lengthen the front and allow the Ukrainian army to disperse its forces to find weak points for breakthroughs. At the same time, the amount of NATO military aid is limited after all, and it is unable to establish effective defense lines in many places. Most areas still rely on the Ukrainian army to use guerrilla warfare style of play.
Originally, the Russian army continued to air raids on the logistics warehouses and supply lines behind the Ukrainian army, but now this operation seems to have come to an end. It seems that the Russian army was unable to accurately and effectively obtain the logistics information of the Ukrainian army, and fell behind in the invisible battle.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is not only a military contest on the surface, but also a political and economic struggle behind it.
As both sides continue to increase their stakes in the Ukrainian battlefield, it seems that behind the gradual formation of zero-sum game is another harvest of leeks by Western capital.
Affected by political factors, most Western countries have to give up bilateral trade relations with Russia. European countries that have lost Russian energy supplies can only spend a lot of money to purchase American energy. At the same time, U.S. arms dealers not only obtained large military orders to aid Ukraine from the government, but also obtained a market for NATO countries, especially Eastern European countries, to expand their armaments in the future.
On the surface, the United States has made a fortune, but we can see that inflation in the United States continues to rise, which shows that the market has not recovered. The money is still being held tightly by capital groups, and the Federal Reserve's repeated interest rate hikes cannot prompt the withdrawal of capital.
From this perspective, it is not the United States that wins, but the Western capital groups.
On the other hand, the Russia-Ukraine conflict can indeed limit Russia's development.
Without this conflict, the overall political stance in Europe would be left-leaning . Relying on the large amount of energy provided by Russia, it would not only be able to smoothly survive the new economy transitioning to clean energy, but also have the opportunity to realize the so-called Europe. Strategic autonomy .
Unfortunately, Europe itself is not monolithic. There are many radical countries. Coupled with the continuous conflict between the United States and Britain, the Russia-Ukraine conflict still broke out.
The whole of Europe is completely on the opposite side of Russia. The military confrontation, political isolation, and economic blockade will cause Europe to suffer deeply, and Russia will fall into a cold winter again.
Even if Russia finally achieves its wish to obtain Nikolayev , Odessa and other states, and obtain actual control of Black Sea port cities, the Western blockade will not be easily lifted.
In addition, as long as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine intensifies, Russia's war investment will increase exponentially.
Even if Putin can stabilize the exchange rate of the ruble , the West will not be able to continue to reduce the proportion of Russia's energy exports, and Moscow will have to consider the war account of being unable to make ends meet.
Rather than saying that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a protracted war between Russia and Ukraine, it is more appropriate to say that it is a contest between Russia and the United States. Obviously, both sides misjudged each other's strength in the early stages.
The United States underestimated the resilience of the Russian economy and the actual situation of global inflation, causing the overall environment to develop in a low-pressure direction.
Russia underestimated NATO's determination to assist Ukraine and the Ukrainian army's confidence in fighting to the end.
Now both sides are going down the road of making mistakes, and it depends on who can have the last laugh.
One more thing, Biden may not be able to see this scene as president.
Nowadays, Biden's support rate is getting lower and lower. Even within the Democratic Party, some people have jumped out to express their opposition publicly. On the other hand, Trump's reputation is rising day by day. The upcoming mid-term elections may be dangerous. .
Whether the Russia-Ukraine conflict can end before the White House changes hands depends on how the frontline fights.
