Ukrainian crisis rocked developing countries
UKRAINIAN crisis has led to unprecedented prices hike that has rocked the world especially developing countries’ economies, throwing millions and millions of their people below the poverty line. During the Cold War era, the US, western countries and Soviet Union have been wooing the Third World countries, and many of them benefited as both the US and former Soviet Union helped in their development. Of course, Ukraine is suffering most by facing humanitarian crisis. Fighting in Bakhmut has been going on for around seven months, and it’s undoubtedly the scene of the fiercest fighting in Ukraine right now. According to latest reports, Russian forces and mercenary units from the Wagner Group have been slowly advancing on into Bakhmut and surrounding settlements in recent weeks. It’s believed they now occupy areas on three sides of the city to the north, east and south.
Defence analysis suggests Russian forces surround much of the city and have made advances into Bakhmut but do not control all parts of the city. Several thousands of people still live in the city, much of which has been reduced to ruins. The moot question is who is responsible for the emergence of Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Many held the view that a new Cold War has started; in fact the cold war never ended with the demise of the Soviet Union because NATO — an instrument of the Cold War — remained intact. The new escalation had started when in the first week of April 2022 more than 27 European and NATO countries announced mass expulsions of Russian officials and suspected spies to express solidarity with Britain. In May 2022, Moscow had kicked out diplomats from France, Italy and Spain in retaliation for the expulsion of Russian diplomats from European Countries and the US.
In fact, the die was cast when in December 2017 the then President Donald Trump had authorised the largest commercial sale of weaponry to the Ukrainian government, which had annoyed Russia. The US had then followed up with the provision of precisely the heavy equipment including Javelin anti-tank missiles. In this backdrop, some sort of retaliation from Russia was expected .Yet European countries accused Russia of intervention in Ukraine, whereas they were equally responsible for throwing the unfortunate nation into turmoil by intervening on one pretext or another. Of course, the US was responsible for chaos and death and destruction in Iraq, Libya, Syria and other countries. On the other hand, former Soviet Union had destabilized or occupied smaller countries in order to extend their area of influence – Afghanistan was a case in point.
The fact remains that Russian leadership especially Putin has been nostalgic about its Soviet era and wish to regain its lost status. But Europeans are also responsible in equal measure for plunging the world into chaos. It is not just the Ukraine they have pushed into turbulence; they have been on this rank adventurism quite too often not in the distant past. Their maddening geopolitical and strategic designs and regime change projects had made Libya and Syria slipping down and down in a quagmire. One wonders over the outcry of western chancelleries, media and think tanks that they have been indulging in so hypocritically and so unabashedly over the Ukrainian crisis. In fact, they have had the pioneering role in stirring the crisis. It was their incitement, prompting and their money that had triggered the massive street protest in Kiev that had finally led up to the ouster of pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.
Had the Ukrainians been left alone, they would have sought the way out of the political imbroglio precipitated by the deposed president Viktor Yanukovych impetuous walkout from the done deal of trade association with EU and join instead Russia-led customs union. Of course, President Putin has no hand to show clean either. No sophistry whatsoever can help him demonstrate innocence in the saga of Crimean Peninsula’s secession. In the venture, Russian agent-provocateurs were definitely involved. But with what face the western capitals slapped him for what they themselves had been engaged in Ukraine so blatantly? Illegitimacy against illegitimacy has become a rule of thumb there. After Russia had annexed Crimea in March 2014, then US president Barack Obama and European leaders had slapped most stringent sanctions on Russia’s energy, arms and finance sectors in retaliation for Russian involvement in Ukraine.
Yet, European countries have been accusing Russia of illegal intervention in Ukraine, whereas they were responsible for throwing the unfortunate nation into turmoil by repeatedly intervening on one pretext or another. Putin had once said: “After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia recognized all the new geopolitical realities and, as you know, it is actively working to strengthen our cooperation with all the independent countries that emerged in the post-soviet space. This is because, unfortunately, the territory of this country is being used by third countries to create threats against the Russian Federation itself.” The moot question is whether situation in Ukraine could lead to World War III? In view of the fact that US and Russia or for that matter former USSR had shown sanity and never allowed the situation to go to nuclear war. They know that there is no concept of victor and the vanquished in case of a nuclear war.
