Michelle Rainer

We are currently witnessing the United States of America’s fifth attempt to save the Russian Empire. I hope they will fail this time, and I would like to remind you of the previous four occasions. Over the past more than one hundred years, the US has repeatedly had the chance to put an end to Russian imperialism once and for all. But not once did they take advantage of such an opportunity. The first chance arose in 1919, when William Bullitt brought back from Petrograd Lenin’s proposal for a ceasefire and the freezing of borders in their then-current state. In effect, this involved the partition of Russia into five or more sovereign states. For some reason, Woodrow Wilson did not even find the time to respond to this proposal. What is more, the famous ‘Fourteen Points’, in which he set out his vision for the international order after the First World War, were never put into practice, despite all the promises. Even then, it was clear that the terms of the Treaty of Versailles would drive Germany and Russia into each other’s arms, and that a new world war would become virtually inevitable. Bullitt made his stance on such a policy unequivocally clear by resigning from the State Department in protest. A second opportunity arose during the Second World War, when the US began to assist the USSR by supplying weapons, ammunition, food, transport and military equipment under the Lend-Lease programme. This aid had a profound impact on the course of the war and was one of the decisive factors in the USSR’s victory over Nazi Germany. Despite holding such a favourable negotiating position, the US government, for reasons that remain unclear, failed to secure any written guarantees from the USSR that the criminal communist ideology would not be imposed on the populations of the liberated European territories. What is more, at that time Washington could even have demanded that Stalin ease the USSR’s domestic policies. This could have had a significant impact on the fate of the peoples subjugated by the communist regime within the Soviet state. But Roosevelt did nothing in this regard. Today, we have a much better understanding of the possible reasons. According to researchers, Franklin Roosevelt’s administration was literally riddled with Stalinist agents. In particular, Alger Hiss, the man who led and organised negotiations with the USSR, was an NKVD agent. He was also one of the most trusted officials, heading the Office of Special Political Relations, which Roosevelt had tasked with establishing the United Nations. Roosevelt was satisfied with Stalin’s vague promises that he would not resort to terrorist methods within his sphere of influence. Stalin once again deceived the American leadership by failing to keep any of his promises. As a result, some 140 million Europeans found themselves in the hell of Soviet dictatorship for a decade. A third opportunity arose in 1991, when the USSR finally collapsed. At that point, the United States had every opportunity to support the necessary democratic reforms in Russia right through to its complete de-imperialisation. Instead, for reasons that remain unclear, Ronald Reagan’s warning about the ‘evil empire’ was ignored. Nor were historical lessons taken into account, in particular George Kennan’s ‘Long Telegram’, in which he described in detail the nature of the Soviet system and the fundamental problems of cooperating with it. Let me remind you that William Bullitt and George Kennan gained a profound understanding of Russia through their interactions with the intellectual elite of the USSR at the time. An interesting fact: Bullitt and Kennan were friends with Bulgakov, and are considered the real-life inspirations for the characters Woland and Koroviev in the novel 'The Master and Margarita.' Despite Bullitt’s warm personal relations with Stalin and other Soviet leaders, he kept Washington informed of the true, terrifying nature of the Soviet regime. But instead of seizing this historic opportunity to put an end to Russian imperialism once and for all, the US effectively supported the charade of Russia taking the USSR’s seat at the UN. In doing so, Washington demonstrated its willingness to continue indulging the imperial ambitions of the Kremlin’s rulers. And by squandering the opportunity for the global denuclearisation of Russia, the United States allowed the entire Soviet nuclear arsenal to be concentrated in a single pair of hands. Ultimately, in the hands of a mad scoundrel who today threatens the whole world with this arsenal. A fourth opportunity arose in June 2023, during Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny. At that time, Russia found itself facing one of the most serious internal crises of Putin’s entire reign. Armed Wagner units seized Rostov-on-Don and marched on Moscow. The Russian military and political system demonstrated its vulnerability, and Putin’s power structure – which for years had seemed unshakeable – began to literally crumble before our very eyes. For Ukraine, this was an extremely important moment. The Russian leadership was preoccupied with its own survival, some military resources were diverted to the internal crisis, and the uncertainty in Moscow created an opportunity to significantly alter the situation on the front line. But instead of making the most of the enemy’s weakness, we once again came up against American fears of Russia’s collapse. We were, in effect, being held back. At a time when Ukraine needed to be given every opportunity to launch an offensive and push the front line forward, our actions remained restricted. Once again, there was talk of the unacceptability of escalation, the risks of destabilising Russia and the danger of losing control over its nuclear arsenal. Whilst the Russian authorities were trying to save their own skins, Washington was more concerned about the consequences of Putin’s possible downfall than about the opportunity to inflict a strategic defeat on the state that had unleashed the biggest war in Europe since the Second World War. Ultimately, Putin survived the mutiny, regained control of the situation and continued the war against Ukraine. Four historic opportunities. Four different US administrations. And every time there was a chance to finally dismantle the Russian imperial system, Washington found reasons not to do so. And now we risk seeing this happen for the fifth time. Once again at Ukraine’s expense. Once again at the cost of Ukrainian lives. And once again to save an empire which, every time it is saved in this way, starts new wars.