Most of the reporting about the Ukraine war in the American mass media paints Russia as the aggressor and Ukraine as the victim. The war is characterized as one between democracy and dictatorship, between rule of law and rule by the strongest.

That is highly misleading. Ukraine is not a democracy, and the elephant in the room — the U.S.-dominated NATO Alliance — is left out of the picture.

The immediate cause of the Ukraine war was Russia’s invasion of post-Soviet Ukraine in February 2022. However, the ultimate, or underlying, cause is the U.S. government’s effort to expand NATO to include all of the former Soviet republics besides Russia, as well as the former Communist Party-ruled states in Eastern and Central Europe. That U.S. effort began in 1991, conducted by both Republican and Democratic administrations. Wise voices from experienced foreign policy analysts warned that such a policy would threaten the security of post-Soviet Russia and likely lead to war. They were prophetic!

When Vladimir Putin became president of post-Soviet Russia in December 1999, he sought to reassert an independent role for Russia in the world. By contrast, post-Soviet Russia’s first president, Boris Yeltsin, had sought to become chief ally of the United States in global politics. Putin is a Russian nationalist who seeks to preserve and expand Russia’s role in the world. He has the support of Russia’s new big business class, which seeks a sphere of economic influence in its border region.

Putin is indeed a dictator who assassinates Russians who challenge him. He also has reportedly amassed a personal fortune, although it appears his goal is power rather than wealth. However, he is not a “fascist” who scapegoats some ethnic or religious minority. Putin has been seeking to unite the many ethnic/national groups that live in the vast territory of post-soviet Russia (including Chechens, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, and Armenians).

We should demand an immediate end to the death and destruction that is the inevitable result of modern wars (even the “good ones” such as World War II). That calls for an immediate cease-fire, with the combatants remaining in place but stopping the fighting. The cease-fire should be followed by negotiations among the relevant parties including Russia, Ukraine, and the European Union. Such a negotiation would have the best chance to achieve a resolution of the conflict that is acceptable to the people of Russia and Ukraine.

Americans should demand that the U.S. government allow the local parties to work out a resolution acceptable to them. The U.S. government has no right to insert its power in that region. One hopeful factor is that ethnic Russians and ethnic Ukrainians have lived together in the same state for centuries, with many intermarriages over that time.

David M. Kotz is a retired UMass economics professor. He’s written two books about the former Soviet Union and has visited the former Soviet Union multiple times since 1991. He lives in Northampton.