View From Sri Lanka | A Murder at the White House

Dhanuka Dickwella

‘I always believe when your political opponents are committing suicide, there’s no reason to murder them’

Former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, John Boehner

There is no better time in history to emphasize the truthfulness of those words than now if you were a Russian strategist or a politician. For three years, the collective West, or as they call themselves, the free world, backed the Ukrainian leadership unequivocally. It wasn’t just the military aid, financial support, or diplomatic support. A deep-rooted ideological backing based on a notion of a divine battle between the democratic world and autocratic tyranny was at the core of it. The Western leaders and the media rallied their populations against Russia and everything that was Russian.

Backing Ukraine had an underlining extension of the unipolar world, namely the strengthening and re-emergence of trans-Atlanticism. European security architecture, European political alignment with the United States (US), and a unified voice of the West were the pillars of this doctrine. No American decision was taken without the consultation of Europe, which portrayed Washington and Brussles on an equal footing. At times, the world was puzzled as to who really called the shots in decision making or whether the tail was wagging the dog. The European leadership, such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Emmanuel Marcon, Pedro Sanchez, Andrzej Duda, and even European foreign ministers such as Anlena Barebok, Radosław Sikorski, Kęstutis Budrys, appeared to be punching above their weight concerning the policy making of the West overshadowing Anthony Blinken and Joe Biden himself. Brussels was in the driving seat while Washington was a happy passenger.

Saudi Arabia hosted talks between the US and Ukraine. While the US was represented by Secretary of State, Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, Ukrainian head of the president’s office Andriy Yermak participated in the discussion

Emboldened by this iron-clad trans-Atlantic solidarity and political say, Europe was trying to influence no