alt Hacker NewsAmerica has also been utterly incapable of putting this out. Or even of handling Iran (which they didn't need to engage to begin with)
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There are probably layers of nuance behind this.
Blocking the sale of Russian oil forced the EU to purchase US oil at a premium. Not conducive to ending the war from the US perspective.
Continued combat in Ukraine requires the purchase of US armament. Not conducive to ending the war from the US perspective.
The EU being a supplicant strengthened the US hand in trade negotiations. Not conducive to ending the war from the US perspective.
Probably much more that we don't know about driving the current situation.
I think the US could have, but lacked the political will to do so.
Russia would have been very easy to handle. No fly zone over Ukraine from the very start. The US could have closed the skies over Ukraine early on (as requested by Ukraine) and almost instantly put an end to the war before it got rolling. Putin would have thrown a giant tantrum, and then promptly backed down and sought peace talks. The US could have shot down every single jet & bomber Russia sent over the line.
War with Russia does not mean nuclear war with Russia. As we can clearly see from what Ukraine is doing to Moscow et al.
Also, an aggressive stance in fighting Russia, would have caught them early on when their military was entirely a disaster. The beating would have been an epic humiliation. Instead Russia has spent years re-learning how to wage war, which is not what you actually want.
Why would they put out the fire that they themselves started?
The wars have been very profitable for certain people who planned for it.