Editor's note: Xin Ping is a commentator on international affairs who writes regularly for CGTN, Xinhua, and Global Times. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Asked by a farmer about the Ukrainian leader's "situation" during a visit to local vineyards on August 22, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan replied that "Zelensky was very worried. There are people around him who deceive him a lot." Though Erdogan did not specify who those liars were, the country that wanted Ukraine to fight against Russia until the last Ukrainian down was certainly on the list. The truth is that the U.S. has cheated everyone on the Ukraine crisis.

The U.S. has lied to Ukraine from the very beginning though it has made repeated commitments to stand with Ukraine. The U.S. keeps sending arms to Ukraine and inciting confrontation between Ukraine and Russia, without getting itself directly involved in the conflict. It generously promised on various occasions that it would consider Ukraine's bid for accession to NATO. However, the promise is never meant to be fulfilled. Even Michael Anthony McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, pointed out the pathetic fact that the U.S. is indeed "lying to Ukraine."

The U.S. keeps telling Ukraine that the fight is about nothing but "democracy vs. autocracy," trying to force other countries to choose between "justice" and "evil." Is the U.S. really interested in "defending democracy in Ukraine"? In fact, throughout this crisis, Ukraine has been used by the U.S. only as a tool to contain Russia. Now the crisis has lasted for over 200 days, and Ukraine is still mired in conflicts and chaos.

Russia has been a long-term target and victim of U.S. lies. As part of its efforts for reconciliation with the West, the Soviet Union dissolved the Warsaw Pact in 1991. After the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia received guarantees from the U.S. for a less confrontational NATO. However, Russia's gesture was not reciprocated. Since 1999, NATO has completed five rounds of enlargement, pushing its eastern boundary closer to the western border of Russia. It is just like putting a knife on someone's neck and describing it as "to ensure everyone else is safe."

Russia's experience shows that a "promise" is nothing but a tool for the U.S. to reach its goal. When a weakened Russia had just inherited the state machine from the Soviet Union, the U.S. could not resist the temptation to reap the low-hanging fruits of strategic interests. But policymakers in Washington, D.C. should have foreseen how the Russians would react.

Now Russia and Ukraine are fighting, and the U.S. is watching. But it is Europe that's paying the bill as another victim of American lies. After instigating Europe and provoking Russia, the U.S. keeps itself far from the conflict and leaves Europe to clean up the mess. The security framework of Europe has broken into pieces.

And as winter approaches, Europe, which used to import 40 percent of its gas and a quarter of its oil from Russia, has to brace itself for the coldest winter ever in history. While persuading Europe to sanction Russian energy and food, the U.S. bought a large amount of Russian crude oil on the eve of its ban on Russian oil. And now it is selling 60 percent of its liquefied natural gas to Europe, according to a report from Markets Insider.

Although many European countries cast doubts on the rationality behind decoupling from Russian energy, the European Union, with the great vision of achieving "strategic autonomy," follows the U.S. parrot-fashion and insists on decoupling. The widespread joke of "only washing four parts of your body to save more energy" reveals the fact that politicians in Europe are trapped in U.S. lies.

There is another heavier price Europe has to pay. Robert E. English, a former Pentagon analyst, wrote on the National Interest website in August that Europeans need to pay at least $1 trillion for Ukraine's reconstruction, and the overall financial burden of the EU would amount to nearly 10 percent of its annual GDP.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is profiting from the losses of others, increasing arms sales, reviving the "brain-dead" NATO to dominate Europe's security agenda, and containing its biggest rival Russia as it has long desired to do.

That's how and why the U.S. has cheated everyone on the Ukraine crisis. One thing is for sure: the U.S. can fool some of the people on the Ukraine issue, but it cannot fool all the people all the time.

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