There are some fundamental reasons why Ukraine is being used as a shield against Russia and not treated as an ally by the US and Europe. These reasons are deeply ingrained in culture and psyche, and aren't a product of everyday politics. A

The first reason is Europe outsourcing its security to the US during the Cold War era and up to the present. The US is culturally, mentally and physically far away. This distance makes it pay attention only to the big players on the board - it sees Russia, it misses Ukraine.

Solving this fundamental issue is not as easy as changing the spelling of Kiev to Kyiv. Changing symbols is important and it can be done quickly. What can't be changed in a heartbeat is decades of educating American strategists on Russia, the rest are Russia's satellites.

Europe simply gave away European security to the US, while it invested in social security. Among many problems that arise from such a trade is the fact that the security structure in Europe isn't sensitive enough to what happens on its periphery.

The second problem is the European collective psyche, which still hasn't processed the fact that Europe doesn't end at Berlin and Vienna. Europe hasn't only dropped its responsibility to effectively defend itself, it hasn't completely defined itself.

Once again, giving nice statements on how we're all European, all equal, how it's a real treasure to have all these nations together is one thing, changing European societies to not demonstrate their animosity to the "other Europe" in every electoral cycle is another.

Basically, when Russia sees Ukraine it sees something that belongs to it, in a very toxic, domestic violence kind of way. When the US looks at Ukraine, it sees a barrier to Russian expansion into Europe, the part its tasked with defending. It's therefore useful, but risky.

When Europe itself looks at Ukraine, it sees the farthest part of the "other Europe", which creates nothing but trouble for the "real Europe", the one which has already transcended war, racial, ethnic and religious differences, and lives in a utopia (although it doesn't really).

This American and European way of looking at Ukraine, or the Balkans for that matter, produced half-strategies since the 2005 Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Either Ukraine is a part of Europe or it's an object to be used against Russia, until Russia comes to its senses.

The fundamental issue thus being, whether one treats Ukraine as a subject or an object. Even after 2022, Ukraine did not achieve the subject status in the eyes of the US and Europe, although its position in the collective psyche has advanced from where it began.

Ukraine is fighting on two fronts, one is a physical struggle against possessive Russia, the other is a mental struggle to convince the West that it exists outside of the Russian satellite, ex-Soviet paradigm, that it can be an ally, not only an instrument of influence on Russia.

That's why, by the way, Ukrainians get mad when they are being lumped together with Russians in various events, award ceremonies, exhibits and such. They don't want to be an add-on, whether for good or evil Russians. They want to be recognized as a separate, independent entity.