Donald Trump is pushing to end the conflict in Ukraine because of its futility and the magnitude of the failure of Washington’s plans to expand NATO to Ukraine to permanently encircle Russia. With Trump eyeing China as Washington’s chief competitor, he wants to shift US policy to the Indo-Pacific.

The Magnitude of US/NATO Failure

One key reason was Moscow’s ability to not only successfully defend itself against the combined assault of the US and NATO, but also to simultaneously maintain economic growth. According to official figures released in August 2024, GDP growth in the first half of the year stood at 4.6%, compared with 1.8% for the same period last year, with capital investment, including by the private sector, rising by 8.3% year-on-year to 8.44 trillion roubles ($92 billion), following 14.5% growth in the first quarter of the same year. The data also shows real wages in the first half of 2024 grew by 9.4%, while nominal wages increased by 18.1% compared with the same period in 2023. Unemployment remained at a historically low level of 1.9 million people in July, or 2.4% of the workforce.

In terms of Russian military control of Ukraine, the scope has only expanded with Ukrainian military forces, despite consistent support from the US and NATO, facing systematic defeats over and over. From Trump’s perspective, not only is this a total waste of money and equipment, but also a loss that Washington is bearing rather........

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