Of course through proxy Ukraine and blood of its soldiers ... membership to the military "garden" of Europe has to be earned. The Maidan and Donbas massacres were just a preview of more to come.

RAND Report Avoiding a Long War -- U.S. Policy and the Trajectory of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict | January 2023 |

New on MoA:
Ukraine - RAND Study Sees Risks In Prolonged Warhttps://t.co/jwTcVmTwEm
Pics: Rand 2019, 2023 pic.twitter.com/f5yKAN3u9k

— Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) January 27, 2023

Color Revolutions and Regime Change in Belarus and Russia

The Biden administration changed tact. He endorsed Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the color revolution candidate that had failed the elections in Belarus.

Biden also allowed for the delivery of more offensive weapons to Ukraine. The regime in Kiev was encouraged to retake the rebellions Donbas republics. The green light for that was given in early 2022 even as the White House knew that Russia would respond militarily.

The consequences for Ukraine that RAND had predicted in 2019 ensued. The U.S. aim for the war is, as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in April 2022, to 'weaken Russia':

A National Security Council spokesperson said that Austin's comments were consistent with what the US' goals have been for months - namely, "to make this invasion a strategic failure for Russia."

"We want Ukraine to win," the spokesperson added. "One of our goals has been to limit Russia's ability to do something like this again, as Secretary Austin said. That's why we are arming the Ukrainians with weapons and equipment to defend themselves from Russian attacks ...

In the meantime with a surge in more advanced arms for offensive counterattacks, the goal has been set to reconquer Crimea. As long as manpower makes this possible.

'Sapere aude'