John Mearsheimer: Ukraine Russia War: AMERICA is RESPONSIBLE

Daniel Davis Deep Dive Merch: Etsy store

The speaker criticizes U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham for claiming to support a "never again" foreign policy—especially in reference to the Holocaust—while allegedly supporting what the speaker calls a genocide in Gaza, showing hypocrisy in his stance.

The discussion then shifts to the war in Ukraine. The speaker argues that the United States, not Russia or Ukraine, is principally responsible for the conflict due to its aggressive push for NATO expansion—especially the decision in 2008 to invite Ukraine into NATO. This move, the speaker says, provoked Russia and led to the 2014 crisis and eventual war.

The speaker refutes the idea that Russia was always intent on invading Ukraine, pointing out there was no evidence of imperial ambitions from Vladimir Putin before 2014. He cites former U.S. officials, including Michael McFaul, who confirmed Putin wasn’t interested in conquering Crimea before the crisis.

The 2014 overthrow of Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, Yanukovych, is described as a Western-supported regime change that violated a negotiated agreement, prompting Russia to annex Crimea. According to the speaker, had NATO not pushed to include Ukraine, the country would likely still be whole today.

The Minsk agreements, intended to give autonomy to Russian-speaking regions, were reportedly an effort by Putin to avoid conflict, but these were undermined.

Finally, the discussion touches on former President Trump’s recent announcement of a proposed 50% tariff on the European Union starting June 1, 2025, as retaliation for what he sees as unfair trade practices that have led to a $250+ billion annual trade deficit with the U.S.