Determining whether a war is a proxy war mainly depends on the role of each party in the war and the way they participate in the war. The protagonists of the Russia-Ukraine conflict are Russia and NATO led by the United States. The conflict stems from the game of great powers. Th

#focus on the situation in Russia and Ukraine#

To judge whether a war is a proxy war, it mainly depends on the role of each party in the war and the way they participate in the war. The protagonists of the Russia-Ukraine conflict are Russia and the United States-led NATO . The conflict stems from the game of great powers, and the conflict continues due to the deep involvement of the United States-led NATO. The only unfortunate thing is that the conflict happened in Ukraine and the victims were the Ukrainian people.

First of all, the protagonists of the Russia-Ukraine conflict are Russia and NATO led by the United States.

Whether it was before the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out or today when the Russia-Ukraine conflict lasted for more than 10 months, Russia and NATO were the protagonists of this conflict. Although this conflict is a battle for the Ukrainian people to defend their homeland, the Kiev regime must listen to Washington's final decision on the scale of the war and peace negotiations.

The cause of the war was the intensification of conflicts between Russia and the West.

Since the Crimean crisis in 2014, NATO, led by the United States, has been deeply involved in Ukrainian affairs, pushing Ukraine to completely turn towards the West in diplomacy, economy and military, and promoting Ukraine to join NATO and the European Union .

The direction of the war is determined by Russia and NATO.

After the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, NATO, led by the United States, provided a large amount of military and economic assistance to Ukraine. The United States decided to provide Ukraine with the scale of economic assistance, the quantity and quality of military assistance, and these factors greatly affected the direction of the war. NATO is deeply involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and provides comprehensive assistance to Ukraine in terms of information, intelligence, logistics and command. In the words of NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg: "This is a war against Russia with NATO's money and Ukrainians' personnel." NATO, led by the United States, supports Ukraine in its fight with Russia. Although NATO troops have not publicly appeared on the battlefield in Ukraine, NATO equipment and Western mercenaries and military advisors have indeed followed each other. Whether it is the Azov Steel Plant in Mariupol or the forward positions in Donbass, NATO countries have been deeply involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Secondly, the stakeholders in the Russia-Ukraine conflict have different demands.

From a Ukrainian perspective, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territory. This formulation makes some sense, but it is not entirely correct. Ukraine's demand is to regain territories controlled by Russia, including Donbass and the Crimean Peninsula.

From Russia's perspective, the main goal of launching special military operations in Ukraine is not to occupy Ukraine, but to prevent NATO's penetration and expansion in Ukraine. Putin repeatedly emphasized at the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict that Russia had no intention of occupying Ukrainian territory and overthrowing the Ukrainian regime. Its core demand is not to invade Ukraine, but to demand that NATO not continue to expand eastward and not admit Ukraine into NATO, hoping to maintain the security and stability of Russia's relations with NATO. When peace talks were hopeless, Russia changed its policy and announced the annexation of four states in eastern Ukraine.

From the perspective of the United States-led NATO, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is an important means to weaken Russia and curb the expansion of the Russian Empire. The United States is not eager to help Ukraine quickly regain its lost territory, nor is it eager to help Ukraine quickly defeat Russia and end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. On the pretext of preventing the Russian-Ukrainian conflict from getting out of control and turning into a nuclear war between Russia and NATO, the United States has adopted limited aid to Ukraine. It is obvious that the United States’ pursuit is to consume and contain Russia, rather than to help Ukraine quickly regain lost ground and defeat Russia. The practices of the United States and the West have caused the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to turn into a protracted war, a war of attrition, and a stalemate. Not only Russia but also the Ukrainian people are in trouble.

Again, proxy wars are a common way of great power competition.

Comparing the proxy wars that broke out during the Cold War and the Cold War : the Vietnam War , the Korean War and the Afghan War, we will find that local wars although they occur in some hotspot countries, the protagonists of the wars are still the United States and the Soviet Union. By supporting a certain party in a local war, major powers use local wars to attack and weaken their opponents.Take the Vietnam War as an example. In the eyes of the Vietnamese, it was the American invasion and intervention in Vietnam. But from the perspective of the game between the United States and the Soviet Union, this is a proxy war between the great powers of the East and the West in Vietnam.

observes war and conflict from different perspectives, and there are many different characterizations of war. I believe that the conclusion that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a proxy war does not affect my conclusion that the Ukrainian people are the biggest victims of this war, nor does it negate Russia’s historical responsibility in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Any war is unjust, and ordinary people are the biggest victims. The intervention of major powers in local wars complicates and prolongs regional problems.