In recent weeks we have seen all over major news hubs in the United States the images of fires burning in major cities in the country of Ukraine, sometimes stretching as far as ten miles. This soon may be called an all-out war instead of a “conflict” as the death toll reaches 25 with 425 injured. The general narrative we are told through major news outlets such as CNN and Fox news in the United States is that the unrest in Ukraine cities has been sparked by protestors angered by the Ukrainian government’s vetoing of a bill that would bring the Ukrainians under the European Union to instead accept a deal with Russia. This is where the division lies, a sect of the population being pro-government and pro-Russia and the protestors being anti-government and pro-EU. If one has any knowledge of the history of geopolitics, this has all the makings of another Vietnam like proxy war between the West and Russia, but this time around it happens to be on Russia’s doorstep in the country of Ukraine.

When we watch our major news outlets in the United States the narrative is seemingly clear, and is quite similar to narratives found in the conflicts in Egypt and Syria; the citizens of these countries are rising up against their governments that have been oppressive towards the citizenry. The major news outlets in the United States have painted these protestors as oppressed citizens acting out in justified revolution against their governmental oppressors. But is that all there is to the story? Could western media be skewing the story to benefit their objectives in Ukraine? This may just be the case, as some Ukrainians see these protests as western backed coup attempts. Research outside of what the major news networks in the United States are saying provides a much different picture, some might even say alarming.

Let’s be clear about something, although the cold war has ended between the west and the eastern bloc, the two powers are still not the best of friends. Russia has publicized its fear of the west and the United States in particular in recent years, especially amid the crisis in Syria, a close ally of Russia. The two institutions Russia fears may be a threat to her sovereignty are the European Union and NATO. This is where the “conflict” in Ukraine becomes alarming.

If the West was directly involved in fueling these protests to overthrow the pro-Russian Ukrainian government in order to set in place a pro-EU government, would that not be an act of war? This is where we get to the crux of issue, and the reason for the alarm, the side that the major news outlets in the united states are not identifying; the Ukrainian protestors are not acting on their own accord, they have been influenced directly by western powers seeking to absorb Ukraine into the EU, at the behest of a Western weary Russia. This is not speculation, it is a dangerous reality we face in an ever destabilized world.

How are we able to identify the fact that the United States is backing the pro-EU protestors in the Ukraine? On December 13, 2013 Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland told the National Press Club in Washington that the US has invested $5 billion in Ukraine, “We have invested more than 5 billion dollars to help Ukraine to achieve these and other goals.” Nuland was also quoted in saying that the United States will further “promote Ukraine to the future it deserves.”

So, 5 billion dollars has been “invested” in Ukraine. How much influence can 5 billion dollars but in an impoverished country such as Ukraine? What was that money spent on? Charity? I don’t think so. This act of buying influence has been occurring in geo-politics for centuries, after all, you can buy a lot of people for 5 billion dollars in a poor country.

These are dangerous waters the United States and the EU is entering. Imagine if Russia had spent 5 billion dollars on influencing the people of Mexico to overthrow its pro-US government in order to become pro-Russian? We all remember how the United States reacted when the Russians were messing around with a certain island nation 90 miles off of our coast. Stay informed.