A lamb to the slaughter Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Speaking to the Rossiya-1 state television channel on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the US that his country would strike new targets if advanced rocket systems were supplied to Ukraine, adding that the new arms deliveries to Kiev are aimed at "prolonging the conflict."

Putin's remarks came a few days after US President Joe Biden said he has decided to "provide the Ukrainians with more advanced rocket systems and munitions that will enable them to more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine."

Putin did not specify which targets he meant. Song Zhongping, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Times that the targets could be both within and outside Ukraine.

There seems to be no end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. From the beginning, the US has been sending more advanced and heavier weapons to Ukraine and escalating the situation. The US clearly knows that a prolonged conflict between Russia and Ukraine serves its interests. As long as Russia and Ukraine do not reach reconciliation, Russia will be weakened and will face more uncertainties. 

Xu Liang, an associate professor at the School of International Relations of Beijing International Studies University, told the Global Times that the nature of the US military assistance to Ukraine has changed.

"The US military assistance has far exceeded its original goal of helping Ukraine win its conflict with Russia. The US has put its national interests into consideration, and its military aid to Ukraine is tailored to its strategic goal of fighting for global power," said Xu.

Selfishness has always been the hallmark of American foreign policy, and the ongoing Ukraine conflict is the best display of this. With self-interests in mind, the US will not shoulder any responsibility for the development of countries it boasts as "allies" or "partners," nor does it care about the well-being of people in these countries. As the Ukraine crisis drags on, the US, despite holding the key to solving the crisis, keeps escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine and creating more obstacles to a peaceful settlement. 

In other words, the US is trying to take advantage of the Ukraine crisis to maintain its hegemony in the world. US global leadership role is already shaken. From the US withdrawal from Syria, its debacle in Afghanistan, to its current calculations in Ukraine, the US has always wanted to control the situation from behind the scenes and reap the benefits for nothing, which only makes itself less and less trusted and dragged down from the altar of global hegemony it once placed itself on.

The US calculates carefully - it wants to behave like an "onlooker" during the crisis and see other countries be consumed of their resources. But the situation evolves out of the control of the US. After all, the Ukraine crisis reflects the defect of US hegemony and the global order solely defined by the US. On the one hand, the US pushes forward its foreign policy and ignores the security concerns of other countries; on the other, when its strength is not enough to sustain global order, it only brings turbulence to the world and falls victim to it. 

During the first Eurasian Economic Forum in late May, Putin said no world policeman can stop the global process of countries pursuing an independent policy. Song said that when the US no long acts like the world policeman, it means Washington is not a global hegemon any more, and the world will not be a unipolar one. Washington needs to take seriously Putin's warning and not trigger World War III. It must understand it is no longer the one that can dictate to other countries and define the world order.