War or Ceasefire, U.S. Imperialism Uses Ukraine as a Pawn

Apr 28, 2025

The Trump administration said it is pushing to end the war in Ukraine. It put forward a so-called peace plan that would recognize Russian control over the areas its army has won in the war, as well as agreeing to Russian sovereignty over Crimea.

It is not clear yet whether Trump’s proposal will actually lead to the end of the war, or even to a real ceasefire. Ukrainian president Zelensky has been pushing back against the U.S. proposal, saying that it is too favorable to Russia.

As part of his “peace” plan, Trump also demanded that Ukraine turn over much of its mineral wealth to U.S. corporations, and he is proposing to take over operation of Ukraine’s biggest nuclear power plant. Trump is trying to cut a deal with Putin to share, between U.S. capitalists and Russian oligarchs, Ukraine’s rich agricultural land, its mines and its many industries.

Trump arrogantly told Zelensky when he came to the White House that Ukraine “doesn’t have a lot of cards to play” in deciding what happens. Meaning that, behind the scenes, the U.S. government has been the dominant decision maker in this war, and that it plans to continue to be.

U.S. policies led to this war between Russia and Ukraine. U.S. money and weapons have dictated how the war plays out. For several decades the U.S. government, with its NATO allies, put a military noose around Russia, stationing troops, warplanes and missiles right up to the Russian border. The U.S. threw promises at the former Soviet states and brought them into the camp of NATO and the European Union and away from Russia. It was these actions and threats from the U.S. and NATO that provoked Putin to order Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.

The Biden administration paid U.S. military contractors to provide much of the weaponry for Ukraine. The U.S. government dictated which weapons, how many and where they were used. U.S. generals coordinated war planning for Ukraine. U.S. spy satellites and the CIA provided military intelligence. It was a U.S. war against Russia in all but name. The Biden administration kept this war going in order to weaken Russia as a competitor among the world’s major powers.

Now the Trump administration seems to be going in a different direction. But with the same goal: to strengthen U.S. imperialism in its competition with the rest of the world.

The war in Ukraine has brought about carnage, death and destruction for millions of people in Ukraine, and in Russia. Hundreds of thousands have died, Ukrainian and Russian. They are the victims of the war.

For Biden and Trump, who both represent the interests of U.S. imperialism, the Ukrainian and Russian peoples are just pawns to be used to protect the profits of U.S. capitalists.