Elon Musk’s new X post claims US, not Putin to be blamed for Russia-Ukraine war

The compelling video, featuring American economist Jeffrey D Sachs, presented a thought-provoking argument regarding the roots of the war in Ukraine and the jist of it, It is not just Vladimir Putin.

Sachs claimed it was not just the Russian aggression, but US-led NATO expansion which triggered the conflict between the neighbouring countries.

In the video shared by Musk, Sachs claims that the United States’ intention to integrate Ukraine into NATO directly provoked an invasion by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“This is not an attack by Vladimir Putin on Ukraine, in the way that we are told today,” he emphasised.

Here’s the video!

Sachs’s views challenge the mainstream global narratives around the Russia-Ukraine war but unfortunately, the video’s exact date and time remain unverified.

‘Unprovoked’: Video criticises Joe Biden administration

In the video, Sachs openly criticised the Biden administration for labelling Russia’s actions as “unprovoked,” a term they have used relentlessly to allegedly shift the narrative against Putin.

“The Biden team uses the word ‘unprovoked’ incessantly, most recently in Biden’s major speech on the first anniversary of the war,” he noted in a 2023 article for Common Dreams.

Sachs referenced NATO’s commitment to then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990, where the alliance pledged not to “move one inch eastward” in exchange for German reunification—a promise he argues the US has since betrayed.

He contended that the multifaceted problems began with NATO’s expansion, officially starting in 1999 with the admission of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

Furthermore, Sachs pointed out that the US led a bombing campaign against Serbia in 1999, a move that drew strong disapproval from Russia at the time.

Putin once considered NATO membership: Video claims

Sachs claimed that Putin was once a “pro-European” leader who even contemplated NATO membership to foster a “mutually respectful relationship.”

According to Sachs, relations soured dramatically after the US unilaterally withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002.