Russia and Ukraine: A Tragic Comedy of Errors

Syed Atique Hussain Naqvi, Toronto, Canada

After more than 30 months of armed conflict and hundreds of thousands of deaths, the fact who started the Russia-Ukraine conflict has lost its relevance amid the propaganda drummed up by the two governments.

The war propaganda vehicle has been further accelerated by the so-called Western allies of the Ukrainian regime who need to justify to their populations the huge amount of money and aid that they are pouring into Ukraine ignoring the sufferings of their people.

Until September 2024 first week, the United States has poured in US$55.7 billion in military assistance since the conflict began on February 24, 2022, after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in parts of Ukraine, according to the US State Department.

The right-leaning US think tank Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), put the total US aid at US$175 billion. It says: “It’s important to note that of the $175 billion total, only $107 billion directly aids the government of Ukraine. Most of the remainder is funding various U.S. activities associated with the war in Ukraine, and a small portion supports other affected countries in the region.”

With more than half a million homeless Americans and 38 million in poverty - about the population size of Canada – pumping money into a war thousands of miles away from home does not even indicate a zero-sum game but a lose-lose situation.

Since February 2022, the United Kingdom has pledged US$16.5 billion to Ukraine and until June this year, EU institutions have given US$45 billion, Germany gave US$17 billion, Japan gave US$11 billion, and Canada gave US$8.8 billion.

Let’s digress a little: The West is supporting a victim of aggression in the Russia-Ukraine war, while it is supporting the aggressor in the Israel-Gaza conflict – an oxymoronic political strategy.

Coming back to Russia-Ukraine, there are no prizes for guessing the character and personality of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been in power for more than two decades. The world has heard and seen enough!

In Ukraine, the presidential elections were supposed to be held earlier this year in March/April, but the incumbent Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law under which the presidential elections could not be held.

The well-oiled propaganda machines on both sides are running at full speed and hence there are barely any reliable accounts of the number of dead people because of the war. Sample this: Russian media reports that between 106,000 to 140,000 Russian soldiers have died since the conflict began in 2022, while according to the Ukrainian military stats as of September 1, 2024, Russian combat losses amount to 616,300 troops. The casualties of troops on the Ukrainian side are less than 50,0000, according to Ukraine, while per Russian sources more than 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have perished in this war. Who would you believe? 

The West knows its enemy, let’s call him Putin, but does it understand its friend called Zelenskyy? The former comedian-turned-president has shown no serious efforts to go to the negotiating table with the Russians. The war keeps Zelenskyy in power and there is no policy pressure on his government to generate economic growth because the cash inflow pipe is switched on by NATO members led by the United States.

“Enjoy the war; the peace will be terrible”: Regardless of who you attribute this quote to, it fits well in the Russia-Ukraine situation – especially from Kyiv’s perspective. The world already knows how Putin is managing Russia and its neighbors, but what about Zelenskyy’s political, managerial, and leadership acumen? Traveling around the world, addressing world leaders through the Internet, playing the victim card, and seeking funds while wearing military gear, what else are Zelenskyy’s major achievements?

Wars are unique, the only question one must answer amid conflicts is about the performance in the conflict. All other KPIs of economic and social development are suspended and no one cries about them.

Managing wars is easier than governance for growth during stability and peace. The dynamics of war seek accountability only on the battleground, the rest is forgotten and forgiven. Zelenskyy’s surprise landslide victory in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential elections came on the back of major promises of peace, economic growth, and fighting rampant corruption.

Zelenskyy’s performance from 2019 until February 2022 [when war broke out] left much to be desired. According to the United States's Wilson Center, Ukraine is in dire straits in terms of its economy. “Its [Ukraine’s] GDP was worth almost $200 billion in 2021. In 2022, it fell to $160.50 billion.

“Simultaneously the Russian economy, after some drop in 2022 as the Western sanctions took effect, continued to grow: Russia’s GDP for 2023 was projected to be $2.25 trillion. Even though IMF experts anticipate hardships and very problematic growth for Russia’s economy in the near future, the Kremlin’s ability to resist (and circumvent) sanctions and to use ramped-up military production to buttress the economy is worrisome. Ukraine’s and Russia’s GDP growth is one of the key dimensions of the ongoing war,” it said.

If the nonsensical Western powers used half of their energies, they are investing in convincing Israel’s Netanyahu to declare a ceasefire in Gaza on the Russian-Ukraine war – peace would be a foregone conclusion.

Arming Ukraine and the perception of weakening Russia is in the interest of US-led NATO, hence there is no talk about peace talk. The Russian-Ukraine war continues to keep Putin and Zelenskyy in power with limited or no accountability on overall development and continues to keep the population of the Western countries in a perceived moral bubble of helping a “victim” nation. Indeed, war is beneficial, peace is a terrible idea!