Imperialism’s attempt to effect the subjugation of Russia, which was launched in earnest with the 2014 fascist overthrow of Ukraine’s elected government and reached a new level with the development of the full-scale proxy war against Russia in 2022, is coming to an end.
Despite all the support that US, British and European imperialism have provided, Ukraine is running out of soldiers and its sponsors have emptied their armouries of weapons and ammunition – either destroyed by the Russians or expended by Ukraine to no avail.
Russia has won the war. All that is left to be determined is the scale of the victory, as Ukraine and its imperialist backers face a catastrophic and total defeat,
USA claims to want a ‘reset’ of relations with Russia
US imperialism, seeing the writing on the wall in Ukraine, is attempting a change of tack. The new Donald Trump administration has instigated negotiations with Russia with the stated aim of restoring diplomatic relations and ending the war in Ukraine as soon as possible.
So far, a once seemingly iron-cast commitment to return Ukraine to its 2014 borders and support the country’s admission to Nato has been dropped. The deployment of US troops in a ‘peacekeeping’ role in Ukraine has also been ruled out entirely. At the United Nations, the USA has opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow’s actions and supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and then drafted and voted for a resolution at the UN security council which called for an end to the conflict – and which contained no criticism of Russia.
Despite the apparent difference in methods of the new administration, however, there is no difference in aims. A cursory glance at the USA’s Russian foreign policy over the past 30 years gives no reason to believe it has any real interest in peace. It appears that the White House is attempting to buy time, hoping that Russia will lower its guard and make concessions to its interests.
But Russia has made its position clear. No European or US troops will be allowed to set foot Ukraine. There will be no ceasefire until Ukraine has been effectively demilitarised and Russia’s frozen assets are returned. Russia will likely only accept a deal if its position turns out to be more precarious than previously thought, or if it believes it can use any respite better than the Americans and Europeans to prepare for a larger war.
At this point, neither of those possibilities looks likely, so it appears that the war will be fought to a military conclusion.
Already, the US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth has given the game away. He has demanded that the European powers take on the “overwhelming share” of both non-lethal and lethal aid to Ukraine, launch a “peacekeeping mission” and go through a period of rearmament to commit to “Europe’s long-term defence and deterrence goals”. In other words, the USA is seeking to extricate itself from a costly and unwinnable proxy war, while getting its European sidekicks to continue funding and equipping Ukraine and preparing themselves for a future direct conflict with Russia.
Following Hegseth’s comments, a great deal of political theatre dominated the headlines as the USA and Europe traded angry words. US officials berated their European allies for a perceived lack of commitment to militarism, while Europeans in return stomped their feet in anger at the betrayal by the USA of Ukrainian and European interests. Amidst the fallout, the various false narratives about ‘national self-determination’ and the ‘defence of democracy’ that have been used to justify the Ukraine war, have unravelled.
With his typically bullish attitude to diplomacy, President Trump has stated that the war was initiated by Ukraine, which has repeatedly refused to negotiate a settlement with Russia. He even went so far as to describe Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is a “dictator”. The Americans and Europeans are now squabbling over who will plunder Ukrainian raw materials to the anticipated tune of $500bn, with the USA threatening to withdraw all financial and military support if it does not get its way.
The European Union, after a short period of protestation, complied with Hegseth’s directive. European president Ursula von der Leyen announced a €3.5bn payment to Ukraine arriving in March, and a “comprehensive plan on how to scale up our European arms production and defence capabilities. And Ukraine will also benefit.”
The big imperialist powers in Europe – Britain, France and Germany – have all committed to large increases in their military spending.
It seems that the European imperialist powers are finding themselves increasingly weak and wedded to the coat-tails of US imperialism, incapable of carrying out an independent imperialist foreign-policy line. Their fortunes are now inseparably tied to that of US imperialism.
Whilst the loss of the Ukraine war is a bitter defeat for US imperialism, for its European imperialist allies it’s nothing short of a catastrophe. The European imperialist powers have gone all in for a Russian defeat, further undermining their already troubled economies in the process, staking their fortunes (and their hopes for an economic recovery) on a Ukrainian victory, and a subsequent despoliation of Russia itself.
Their ultimate objective of a subjugating Russia and degrading it to colony status has failed, and their consolation prize of a ‘fair share’ of the spoils from western Ukraine appears to be slipping away as the dominant USA proves there is no honour among thieves.
After all, imperialist powers may be allies, but they are also rivals, each one of whom strives to keep profits, markets and resources to themselves.
US imperialism wants greater division of labour as it seeks to reorient towards China
US imperialism, far from throwing in the towel, has recognised that it doesn’t have the resources to wage wars against both Russia and China at the present moment. It is reorientating itself and expects the European powers to do their bit by continuing the fight against Russia with less US input. The USA seems keen to prioritise a future conflict with China in the Pacific, viewing it as the greater threat to its imperialist interests. This has been spelt out quite clearly by the new US defence secretary:
“We also face a peer competitor in the communist Chinese with the capability and intent to threaten our homeland and core national interests in the Indo-Pacific. The USA is prioritising deterring war with China [sic!] in the Pacific, recognising the reality of scarcity, and making the resourcing trade-offs to ensure deterrence [ie, aggression] does not fail.
“Deterrence cannot fail, for all of our sakes.
“As the United States prioritises its attention to these threats, European allies must lead from the front.
“Together, we can establish a division of labour that maximises our comparative advantages in Europe and Pacific respectively.” (Speech by Pete Hegseth to the Ukraine Defence contact group, 12 February 2025, our emphasis)
Leaving aside the blatant doublespeak, whereby the imperialists consistently seek to paint their targets as aggressors and their own drive to war as ‘deterrence’ or ‘peacekeeping’, this nevertheless represents a change in focus for Washington. For some time now, the dominant faction in the US ruling class considered that the best way to secure global dominance for US imperialism was by first destroying Russia and then moving on to China. Since this strategy has patently failed, a new approach is being sought.
Already this policy shift is playing itself out as the USA attempts to secure critical resources and trade routes. Greenland and the Panama Canal are both vital for global trade and military logistics. The USA is putting economic and military pressure on Canada and Latin America as it seeks to bolster its flagging domination over the western hemisphere. In the middle east, the US has put forward plans for the transformation of Gaza into a US protectorate and the ethnic cleansing of its people.
These actions are all part of the larger plan of intensifying trade wars and acquiring domination over global supply chains in preparation for a military conflict with China – most likely, as with Russia, via proxies in the region.
Imperialism seeks domination
We are living through a period of deep economic crisis; markets are saturated and opportunities to make profit are dwindling. A capitalist enterprise that cannot secure maximum profits is swallowed up by its rivals. The search for profit is becoming increasingly desperate and cutthroat.
“War is a continuation of policy … ‘World domination’ is to put it briefly, the substance of imperialist policy, of which imperialist war is the continuation.” (VI Lenin, A Caricature of Marxism and Imperialist Economism, 1916, Chapter 1)
Imperialism, in its quest for domination, seeks control over resources, markets and opportunities for profit-taking. It strives for maximum profit whatever the human or environmental cost. All factions of US and European imperialism are committed to war as a means of the redivision of the world and the total subjugation and looting of the non-imperialist countries.
Russia and China existing as large independent states with strong and independent industrial, scientific and military foundations act as a bulwark against imperialism’s machinations, providing military and economic support to the great mass of non-imperialist countries. Having frustrated imperialism’s encroachment on their sovereignty, a direct confrontation between imperialism and the two powers is an inevitability.
Capitalism is bringing humanity to the brink of a global third world war.
The era of socialist revolution
Imperialism, lurching from one crisis to another, is finding it increasingly difficult to keep the system of global capitalism going. In its constant search for profit, it weakens itself, digging its own grave in the process. The export of capital is steadily deindustrialising the imperialist economies and intensifying capitalism’s imperialist and parasitic tendencies.
The USA and the European powers speak of rearming for future conflicts with Russia and China, but their combined industries have proven unfit for the task of adequately arming even their Ukrainian proxy. Their lack of manufacturing capacity brings into question their ability to sustain a global war against Russia and/or China. However, imperialism as a system is not based on human logic or rationality; it has no choice, despite the obvious pitfalls, but to try to turn its fortunes around by attempting the subjugation of Russia and China.
All sincere anti-imperialists must engage in antiwar work to obstruct imperialism’s drive to war. And in case of an outbreak of war, we must support the defence of Russia and China and work for the defeat of imperialism, knowing that such a defeat will hasten the collapse of the whole rotten system.
Capitalism has nothing to offer the proletariat other than impoverishment and war. This maturing crisis is surely bringing with it a new wave of proletarian revolution – a vital opportunity for the working class to put an end to the imperialist system and replace it with a planned socialist economy and a decent future for all.
But such a victory will not come by itself; it must be prepared for and won. It is the job of all communists to expand and intensify the political education of the working class. Only an organised and class-conscious proletariat can perform this historic mission.
Victory to Russia and China!
Death to imperialism!
Onwards to socialism!
