Recently, I learned that Russia feels betrayed that NATO is involved in Ukraine, for Moscow views this is in violation of promises made at the negotiations for the reunification of Germany. Apparently, Feb. 9, 1990, Secretary of State James Baker, under President George H.W. Bush, told Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev that “if we maintain a presence in a Germany that is a part of NATO, there would be no extension of NATO’s jurisdiction for forces of NATO 1 inch to the east.”

In addition, German Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich Genscher also gave assurances to Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primalov ruling out NATO expansion. Even Robert Gates, deputy national security adviser at the time, and former defense secretary under Obama’s administration stated, “Soviets were ‘led to believe’ NATO would not expand eastward.”

NATO has added 14 countries east of Germany since its reunification. This has led Moscow to conclude that NATO “breached the spirit of the 1990 treaty.” While Baker and Genscher made promises, fact checkers claim that it is mostly false to say that NATO breached the treaty, because “the formal agreement signed at the end of those negotiations said nothing about the alliance not expanding eastward,” which goes to show you, that if you do not have it in writing, you don’t have it, and you might not even have it then. So while there are many reason that Russia invaded Ukraine, this is yet another one.

Regardless, the best idea in any war is to try to negotiate peace to stop useless killing and maiming of people. Earlier this month Ukraine decided to have “peace negotiations” without Russia present. To understand why Kyiv would do this, we have to look at the history again.

On Nov. 9, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wanted “genuine peace talks” with Russia. U.S officials urged Zelensky “to hold peace talks with Putin over fears that public support of the war effort could dwindle with no end to the conflict in sight.” However, once peace talks were suggested, Biden’s Nov. 16, 2022, request for $37 billion for Ukraine was awarded by the then-Democrat controlled House and Senate with a vote to give $45 billion, Dec. 23, 2022. On Christmas Day, Putin expressed a desire for peace negotiations, only to be rejected by both Biden’s CIA and Zelensky’s advisers.

Obviously, someone is not serious about peace negotiations.

Putin Again extended the olive branch for peace negotiations on Jan. 6, 2023, only to have it again rejected.

The U.S. has given Ukraine $113 billion. The entire annual Russian defense spending is only $77.7 billion. Additionally, no one is really sure where the U.S. money is going. Arms shipments are even ending up in the hands of criminal gangs and arms traffickers. Is the purpose of another prolonged war simply a means to funnel funds to who knows where?

On Jan. 25, 2023, Germany sent Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Russia viewed this as “a war planned in advance” against Russia. The Russian ambassador, Sergei Nechayev, stated, “This extremely dangerous decision takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation.” Even German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had concerns that this decision was “escalating the war and provoking Russia.” Russia has stated, “foreign tanks … will only extend the war and prolong Ukrainian suffering,” and that the West “is deluded to think otherwise.” Does this sound like an escalation or de-escalation of the war?

Then, on July 8, 2023, Biden decided to send cluster bombs to Ukraine. Cluster munitions disperse large numbers of tiny bomblets from a rocket, missile, or artillery shell, scattering them mid-flight over a wide area. They are supposed to explode on impact, but significant amounts are duds, not exploding initially. These unexploded bomblets can explode later on being picked up or trodden on, killing or maiming the victim. The U.S. munitions have a dud rate of 2.5%. Russia is retaliating by sending their cluster bombs, which have a failure rate of 20-30%. That means between the Russian and Ukrainian forces, they will be spreading unexploded ordinances all over the country for children to find for years into the future.

According to the BBC, “Mr. Biden’s move will bypass U.S. law prohibiting the production, use or transfer of cluster munitions with a failure rate of more than 1%.” One hundred and twenty-three countries signed the Convention on Cluster Bombs prohibiting production and use. The U.S., Ukraine, and Russia have not signed the convention. Does this sound like an escalation or de-escalation of the war?

July 30, Putin stated Russia is ready for peace with Ukraine, but in mere hours after he spoke, there was a drone attack on Moscow damaging two office blocks. Does this sound like an escalation or de-escalation of the war?

As noted, a few weeks ago, Saudia Arabia held a peace conference without Russia in attendance. Real peace talks involve the warring countries. What could these talks have been about? U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters, “We are not looking at these talks as generating any concrete deliverables,” but instead, it is “‘a chance for a number of countries around the world’ to hear directly from Ukraine ‘about the horrors their country has suffered at the hands of Russian aggression.’” So these “peace negotiation” were not “peace negotiations” at all. What could they have been for?

Let’s see, in November of 2022 Ukraine was told to act like they wanted peace, so they could get more money, and seven days later Biden asked for money for Ukraine. Well, what do you know, six days after the Russia-uninvited “peace negotiations,” on Aug. 11, 2023, Biden called for another $24 billion for Ukraine.

Then on Aug. 18, Biden approved F-16s for Ukraine. Does this sound like an escalation or de-escalation of the war?

Is Ukraine really looking for peace, or is Ukraine and U.S. operatives looking for more money they can channel to who knows where?

This article was originally published by the WND News Center.

This post originally appeared on WND News Center.