Not only did Washington war mongers do everything they could to provoke Russia into war. They rendered the confrontation inevitable. I agree with J. Mearsheimer, R. McGovern and N Finkelstein that all options had been explored. The OSCE had observed an escalation taking place in the Donbass. Zelensky explicitly expressed his intention to recuperate control over the Donbass and reconquer Crimea. He explicitly expressed his intention to regain nuclear power. After promising late in December 2021 that the US would not install nuclear missiles in Ukraine, Biden removed that promise early in January 2022. Putin then realized that there would be no end to US escalation of the conflict. So as opposed to an escalation leading to war, as wished by the US, he escalated but in such a way that a special military operation would force Zelensky to negotiate a peace agreement. That attempt was successful but the interference of the US was a further step in the escalation. The alternative measures considered by many as a way to avoid the war are not much different from those that were attempted by Russia: repeatedly proposing the condemnation of nazism in the United nations, repeatedly threatening not to cross the red line of trying to include Ukraine into NATO, approving the Minsk agreements, putting troops around Ukraine, submitting a full scale security arrangement in December 2021, meeting with Biden himself on two occasions as an ultimate recourse. If the US representatives were successful in their prediction that Russia would invade, it is because they were informed by Putin that this is what would happen unless the US backs off. Suggesting that there were nevertheless other alternative options that Putin failed to explore is mistaken, because those who think that way fail to take into account the US intent to escalate and force Russia into a confrontation. (Rand corp. Extending Russia 2019) All of this being done to weaken Russia, the US realizing the dangers of de-dollarization. The US is waging an economic war by other means.