To answer the question in my title you need only look at two numbers — 1) Ukraine’s rank in terms of natural resources and 2) the size of Ukraine’s Army in February 2022. Since the end of World War II the West has viewed Ukraine as a critical piece on the global chess board for attacking and defeating Russia. The joint CIA/MI-6 effort to destabilize the Soviet Union, which started in 1947 with the provision of funds, weapons and training to Stefan Bandera’s organization, was crushed by the Soviets by 1952. It was shortly after that, following the death of Stalin in 1953, that Khrushchev gifted Crimea to Ukraine (1954). Was it a reward for Ukrainian assistance in wiping out the CIA-backed OUN uprising?
How is it that on the eve of the Russian Special Military Operation in February 2022 that Ukraine was the poorest country in Europe but was ranked number four in the world in terms of natural resources?
The country [Ukraine] ranks fourth globally in terms of total assessed value of natural resources, with roughly $15 billion in annual output and a potential “assessed value [that] could be as high as $7.5 trillion,” according to the report.
Beyond that, Ukraine is thought to have the largest supply of recoverable rare earth resources in Europe, although much of it is undeveloped. Rare earth minerals (cerium, yttrium, lanthanum and neodymium) and alloys are used in many devices people use every day, such as computer memory, rechargeable batteries, cellphones and much more.
The answer is simple — the Western oligarchs who fund the political leaders of the NATO countries were busy cutting deals with Ukrainian oligarchs to get control of those rare earth minerals and energy resources. Do you think that putting Hunter Biden on the Board of Burisma, along with former CIA Counter Terrorism Chief Cofer Black, was just a coincidence? But note — the plan to pillage Ukraine of its natural wealth did not include a plan to ensure the economic development of the Ukrainian people. Only those closely tied to Western oligarchs would profit.
Simply compare what Russia achieved since Vladimir Putin took the reins of government in August 1999 with Ukraine’s national squalor. Russia is number one in the world in terms of natural resources and Putin put a stop to the oligarchs plan, along with Western partners in the 1990s who gleefully raped Russia for their own enrichment. During the last 23 years Putin has resurrected Russia from the ashes of economic ruin, restored the military, rebuilt infrastructure throughout the 11 time zones that comprise Russia and created a vibrant, modern economy. Oh yeah, almost forgot. Russia’s space program surpasses that of all Western countries, including the United States.
Ukraine by contrast, thanks to a clown parade of incompetent, corrupt leaders, sold their country and their souls to the West. That is why Ukraine is the poorest country in Europe instead of one of the wealthiest.
The West had zero interest in fostering a genuine, legitimate democracy in Ukraine. Ukraine was nothing more than a proxy for weakening Russia and carving it up into pieces the West could readily devour to sustain faltering economies. Prior to the start of Russia’s Special Military Operation, Ukraine was treated as a de facto member of NATO. There were NATO training bases in Ukraine. The U.S. Department of Defense set up dozens of bio-research labs across Ukraine. And NATO and the U.S. European Command conducted annual military training exercises in Ukraine with Ukrainian forces.
The numbers tell the story. Ukraine’s Army (according to data from February 2022) had 700,000 active duty forces and a million men in reserve. That made Ukraine, as a de facto member, the second largest army in NATO. The United States provides the largest share of troops to NATO — 2,307,630. Coming in third, behind Ukraine, is Turkey with 1,069,900. Ukraine’s force is larger than France, Great Britain and Germany combined. We now know that NATO envisaged using Ukraine as the shock troops to weaken Russia so that NATO could finish off Putin and his military.
After 18 months of combat Ukraine has at least 600,000 military casualties (killed and wounded). That represents over 30% of its manpower at the start of the war in February 2022. NATO does not have the stomach, the resources nor the political support in their respective countries to send their troops into the maw of death and destruction that is Ukraine. NATO will not admit it publicly, but without Ukraine and Turkey, it has zero chance of defeating Russia.
This story originally appeared on TheGateWayPundit
