How is this not a proxy war?

Since it was Russia that invaded Ukraine, do you consider that they did so in order to damage the US?
Or perhaps that the US (specifically) forced Putin to invade?
Because those are the only two ways I could see it as a proxy war.
That the EU, and the US, don't wish Ukraine to lose, and provide weapons, doesn't make it a proxy war. It makes them allies.

You seem to consider that the Maidan revolution is tainted, but no revolution is ever pure. It's axiomatic.
That the US was in favour of it, or meddled, is largely beside the point. The actual people of Ukraine had the right to overthrow their president after he flip-flopped over the crucial issue of choosing between Europe and Russia.

Also rember : the government that follows a revolution always betrays the revolution; that's axiomatic too. Poroshenko, as an oligarch himself, was singularly ill-equipped to fight corruption.
The fact that he was  overwhelmingly defeated by a candidate who is clearly pro-European possibly illustrates a popular aspiration in that direction, no?

And frankly "..and a nation which aspires to join that consensus.." is ahistoric and completely removes meddling by one side from consideration.

You'll have to walk me through that part. Consider that after Maidan, there was a certain amount of meddling by one side (annexation of Crimea, the Donbass war) which dwarfs anything the Americans attempted.

I have no idea why you believe that the aspiration of Ukrainians to join the EU is ahistoric. It's been a fundamental, and divisive, issue for the last couple of decades. The succession of presidents elected - Yushenko, Yakunovich, Poroshenko, Zelenskiy - would seem to show a temopral strengthening of popular desire to strengthen ties with the EU and reduce dependency on Russia.

If you believe that Ukrainians have been fooled by the US into becoming pro-EU, rather than making a clear-eyed choice, can you explain the process to me?

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}