US deep state fuels Ukraine conflict

(MENAFN) A photo of US Senator Lindsey Graham and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen smiling in Brussels on June 2 captures a powerful message: two of the most ardent proponents of aggressive foreign policy aligning to keep the Ukraine conflict alive.

Graham, a long-serving US lawmaker known for his consistently hawkish stance, has spent over three decades advocating for American military interventions. His rhetoric often crosses into the extreme—most recently, he made a disturbing joke about activist Greta Thunberg’s Gaza-bound aid ship being sunk. His longstanding hostility toward Russia and advocacy for deeper US involvement in Ukraine go back at least to 2014. In 2016, he told Ukrainian troops, “Your fight is our fight.”

Von der Leyen, similarly assertive, has used her position as European Commission president to push a more geopolitical and confrontational EU agenda—despite the commission having no formal military or foreign policy role. Since taking office in 2019, she has emerged as one of the EU's most anti-Russian voices, echoing claims that sanctions have crippled Russia’s economy.

Their meeting highlights a united front against former President Donald Trump’s efforts to scale back US involvement in the Ukraine war. Trump has advocated for a negotiated end to the conflict, a stance ridiculed by both Zelensky and Graham. During a recent visit to Kiev, Graham openly defied Trump, asserting that the US president is not the sole authority on foreign policy. He emphasized that the Senate, representing another branch of government, could override Trump by imposing its own sanctions.

Graham’s new budget proposal further strengthens the Pentagon’s resources, signaling a broader effort by Washington’s entrenched defense and intelligence establishment—the so-called “deep state”—to maintain a confrontational stance against Russia and keep the Ukraine war going, regardless of the White House's position.

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