Debt From US Military ‘Investment’ Aid Will Make Ukraine ‘Failed State’ Controlled by West - Expert

When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington, DC, on Wednesday, Congress was debating a large new military aid package for Kiev. Zelensky urged US lawmakers to think of the money not as “charity,” but as “an investment.”

An expert in regional and military matters told Sputnik on Thursday that the massive amounts of money would be used to control and loot Ukraine, as well as enrich connected persons and institutions in the West, including the Democratic Party.

“The US is investing in the belief that they will be able to weaken Russia and eventually see a regime change and potentially to dismantle Russia which will then also enable a further containment of China,” said Earl Rasmussen, executive vice president of the Washington, DC-based Eurasia Center and a retired Lieutenant Colonel with over 20 years in the US Army.

“This also acts to disrupt economic cooperation between Europe and Russia and [between] Europe and China, thus potentially leading to the deindustrialization of Europe, specifically Germany,” he explained. “Moreover, the US Military Industrial Complex (MIC) is profiting considerably from the ‘conflict’ and increased tensions. Additional opportunities may occur for western (US) companies to ‘reconstruct’ Ukraine and to obtain Ukrainian resources” at fire sale prices, he added.

The academic and veteran explained there are many in the US leadership who believe the US is “the indispensable nation which essentially rules the world,” and seeks to retain that position at almost any cost.

“The objective is to retain US hegemony and to prevent any potential global or regional challenger from emerging. Ukraine is seen as the key to containing and essentially weaken or even destroy Russia. The objective is not merely to contain Russia but to oversee a regime change and potentially dismantle/restructure Russia, as we know it,” he said.

“Regardless of the narrative being touted, the support is not about Ukraine nor ‘democracy,’” he said. “Ukraine is merely a pawn to global geopolitical objectives of people currently in power. As we found out in recent interviews from [former Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko and [former German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, the Minsk Agreements were never meant to be implemented but rather were merely a means to ‘buy time’ in order to strengthen Ukraine, providing NATO equipment and training.”

The $45 billion most recently pledged to Kiev is almost double the $48 billion it has been given in the year 2022, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, an influential US think tank. Of that, $22.9 billion was for military efforts, including grants, loans and purchases of military equipment, training, logistics, and other support measures. However, Rasmussen noted that most of the funds haven’t really been “given” to Ukraine, but to defense contractors.

“Many of these systems are not ‘donated’ and will need to be paid back to the US by Ukraine. Direct funding goes straight to the government or to other organizations.”

“There currently is no audit function or accountability in place for neither weapons nor funds,” he noted. “As we have seen, already weapons are finding their way into the hands of terrorist cells in Africa and the Middle East. This should really be no surprise. Indications are that a majority of supplies are being traded on the Black Market. Direct funds are another issue, however there seems to be some evidence that Ukraine was a major ‘investor’ with the since discredited crypto company FTX.”

“By coincidence, FTX was a major political contributor to US political parties, primarily the Democratic Party. Thus some funds after some ‘laundering’ ended up in the political contributors of US politicians. I am sure Ukrainian oligarchs have also been beneficiaries of the US taxpayer ‘investments,’” he added.

Indeed, Rasmussen noted that Ukraine would eventually have to “pay back” for the “investments,” creating the same kind of debt crisis as the Lend-Lease program did in World War II, which the US used to give the UK and China while staying out of the hostilities.

“Other means may be from the heavily discounted transfer of ownership of land and industries to non-Ukrainian ‘partners,'” he said. “Regardless, Ukraine will be indebted for generations into the future.”

“Economic hardship will last for the foreseeable future and perhaps decades or even generations,” he also predicted. “The country will essentially be a failed state. I would expect social and political unrest for a long period. The US is the ultimate decider or overseer of the payments. They may have some joint roles with other G7 countries or through the IMF or World Bank but for the most part the US [will] be the main influencer/debt collector.”