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Last year on February 24th, Russia announced a "special military operation" in Ukraine. In just a few months, it turned into a full-blown conflict between the U.S.-Europe alliance and Russia.

One year on – and despite numerous ceasefire agreements and peace talks – the situation remains volatile with no clear end in sight.

We are joined by Danny Haiphong, a U.S.-based journalist and activist with the "No Cold War" international campaign, to discuss the future of this conflict and what can be expected in the year ahead.

Edited excerpts:

CGTN: This is the million-dollar question: When can we expect the Ukraine conflict to end? Are we going to be asking the same question again around this time in 2024?

Danny Haiphong: I do think that there is a possibility that this will be prolonged. And that's because the United States and that's because NATO have basically made it clear that they want to continue this war for as long as it takes.

I think Russia has shown, it has demonstrated not just the commitment to a negotiated settlement, but also a commitment to navigating this conflict in a way where it could have a clear path for settlement. But the United States and NATO, ever since December, 2021, going all the way back to that period, has essentially said that it won't speak with Russia, and it won't consider or acknowledge its legitimate security interests in its own region.

CGTN: U.S. President Joe Biden, in his recent "surprise" visit to Kyiv, reiterated "unwavering" American support to Ukraine while promising a fresh supply of arms. Does the U.S. truly want to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian?

Haiphong: I don't actually think Ukrainians factor into the equation here. I think that the United States and its continued arms sales and transfers to Ukraine are actually part of a much deeper foreign policy objective. And that is to contain and ultimately overthrow Russia. And we cannot also forget China here. The United States, in its national security strategy document over the last two presidential administrations, has labeled Russia and China as the principal targets of the U.S.'s foreign policy initiative. So, that's where I think this is all heading. I think that's what all of this is actually about. To say that they're fighting to the last Ukrainian, I think, underscores just how callous and how committed the United States is to the objectives.

CGTN: In contrast, what we've seen is that China has constantly reiterated its call for dialogue and peace. In fact, recently, China released its position paper on Ukraine crisis solution, advocating for dialogue and peace. How much influence does China have on the crisis? Does dialogue have a chance to lead to peace?

Haiphong: The United States and NATO actually don't follow the UN charter. They don't follow international law. They consider themselves to be international law, meaning that they consider themselves hegemonic powers.

But when it comes to China and its initiatives for dialogue and peace, they do make an immense difference in the Global South and in the majority of the world which looks at China and also looks at Russia and looks at this emerging multipolar world as an alternative to this very development that I spoke of, to the United States and to NATO's unipolar hegemony.

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