This Is About Much More Than Just Diesel

Phillips O’Brien: “Since Trump became president for the second time, the USA has moved steadily to support Putin in his war to wipe out Ukraine. For most of the time that has been through limiting Ukraine and leaving Ukraine defenseless—so that Russia can bombard Ukraine mercilessly (which we are now seeing).”

“However, that has not been all. The U.S. aid for Russia has extended to outright diplomatic support (all those UN votes, the Putin red-carpet visit, etc.), to spreading Russian disinformation (most recently by Marco Rubio this week), to even manipulating Ukraine and Ukrainian allies into doing what Russia wants (hopes and dreams in the USA). Yes, there have been limited crumbs thrown Ukraine’s way, but these have been to keep leverage over the Ukrainians, to see if they can be bullied into doing what Putin wants because of some deeply misguided hope and belief in the USA.”

“The truth of U.S. behavior has been that the U.S. has been helping Russia, but until now more by hobbling Ukraine and its partners. Now, the U.S. is coming out as a more direct supporter of Russia—and in the process it is blaming the Ukrainians for that. The diesel issue is not an end in itself, it is a means to an end. Understand that, and you understand it all.”