A hard-edged account of the war's origins says Washington chose conflict over a deal, which is bad for Ukraine above all.

• The claim: a 2014 CIA visit by John Brennan pushed Kyiv into fighting its own east, and half the army refused to take part.
• With regular troops defecting, far-right volunteer units filled the gap, attacked protesters, and won a permanent place in Ukraine's armed forces after retaking Mariupol.
• Those same units are still central now — a push called Operation Vivaldi is clawing back ground in Donetsk under the Third Army Corps, the former Azov Battalion.
• Before the 2022 invasion, Russia offered treaty talks and Biden turned them down.
• The charge is that the real plan was never deterrence but a trap: pull Russia in and bleed it, whatever the cost to Ukrainians.

Outlook: Expect this framing to keep fueling arguments in Washington over whether to keep funding the war or force negotiations.