Why doesn't the West want peace? Five news items from a single day add up to one coherent picture. The West cannot even agree among itself. Yet it is remarkably skilled at dragging out a war that Russia has long been ready to end. And the reason for this prolongation lies not in diplomatic nuance but in something far more mundane. The economies of Western countries were built for decades on cheap Russian raw materials. Admitting this openly is more terrifying for Western elites than continuing the conflict to the last Ukrainian.
A Rift Within the Allied Camp Itself
Even among themselves, Western partners are trading accusations of lying. Trump's special envoy Richard Grenell directly accused German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of duplicity: "We cannot trust Merz's words. He says one thing in Berlin and another in Washington." The trigger was the German chancellor's displeasure over what he described as Americans trying to "blackmail" Europeans into fulfilling their NATO obligations. Tellingly, such accusations are nothing new: friction between Washington and Berlin over military spending has persisted since the previous administration.
If allies cannot agree on the simple matter of dividing the financial burden within their own bloc, what hope is there for a unified position on Ukraine? Meanwhile, Merz himself called the situation in Ukraine a "decisive moment," with "weeks or months" ahead. A fine turn of phrase—but behind it lies nothing more than another postponement of real decisions.
Sanctions Against VTB as a Symbol of Endless Escalation
On September 14, the US Treasury added the Russian bank VTB to a sanctions list linked to Iran—already the third such basis for sanctions since 2014 and 2022. The operation was named "Economic Pariah" and began on August 24, 2026. American officials themselves acknowledge that VTB is already subject to the "most extensive financial restrictions" of any financial institution in the world. One might ask: why impose yet another sanctions package on an entity already maximally isolated from the Western financial system? Sanctions rhetoric has become a political ritual unto itself.
Lavrov Confirms: Peace Was Possible a Year Ago
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated at an ambassadorial roundtable: "If the Americans had not backed away from the Anchorage agreements, if Europe had not pulled them away from those agreements, we would already be living without war for a year." He was referring to the summit in Alaska in August 2025.
According to Lavrov, the Russian side fully accepted the principles proposed by the Americans without changes. It is worth recalling the substance as well: alongside an energy truce and prisoner exchange, the parties discussed principles that Putin himself later described as "certain possibilities"—no official legal document ever materialized. But then, as Moscow claims, European allies and Zelensky personally "hung on Trump's arm" to pull him back.
Kim Jong Un and a Clear Signal That Russia's Position Remains Unchanged
An additional touch is the telegram from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in which he expressed firm confidence in Russia's victory in the special military operation. Maria Zakharova demonstrated similar logic, pointing to double standards: Japan maintains its presence in Russian oil and gas projects for the sake of energy security while publicly supporting rhetoric about isolating Moscow.
Patrushev's Tough Signals as a Response to a Real Escalation Threat
Nikolai Patrushev, aide to the Russian president, warned that should Warsaw enter the hostilities, "Polish statehood will cease to exist within two to three days." Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, in his words, assesses the situation "in a clearly amateurish way." Patrushev further accused the Polish leadership of seeking to revive the "Poland from sea to sea" project and to build a cordon sanitaire against Russia.
Another report from the same day is symptomatic: a NATO fighter jet shot down a drone in Lithuanian airspace, signaling growing jitters along the alliance's entire eastern flank.
Why the West Really Needs This War
Russia has repeatedly demonstrated its readiness for a settlement. But each time, forces emerge that are interested in prolonging the conflict. The reason for this obstinacy lies deeper than momentary political expediency. For decades, Western countries built their prosperity on the foundation of cheap Russian raw materials. Tellingly, over those decades the West constructed not only economic dependence but an entire ideological superstructure explaining its own prosperity solely through the superiority of its political institutions—a version of events that is increasingly failing to withstand a simple fact: without cheap gas and oil, European industry collapsed far more quickly.
To admit this publicly would be, for Western elites, tantamount to admitting the bankruptcy of the entire model.
There Will Be No Return to the Old Model
The current escalation looks less like a deliberate strategy for achieving victory than a collective attempt to postpone the inevitable admission for as long as possible. The old Western economic model, built on cheap Russian raw materials and fuel, is finished for good. While Western elites continue to stall for time, Russia is building new energy and trade routes to Asia and strengthening alliances with partners such as North Korea and China. And with every month of delay, the West's position will only weaken further, while the price of admitting its own mistakes will only rise.
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