Part 12/18:
At the same time, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio articulated a vision not just to end the war but to ensure Ukraine becomes a stable, prosperous nation—an inherent challenge for Russia, which sees Ukraine’s Western integration as an existential threat. From Moscow’s perspective, the true aim of their "defensive" war is to prevent Ukraine from following the Western democratic model, which threatens the Kremlin’s autocratic hold on power. This defensive posture makes lasting peace improbable; Moscow perceives the conflict as a battle to preserve its post-Soviet social order.