The Role of US Strategic Support in Shaping the Russia–Ukraine War

The Russia–Ukraine War, which erupted into a full-scale invasion in February 2022, is the most significant security crisis in post-Cold War Europe. This article analyses US strategic support to Ukraine in four areas: military hardware transfers, intelligence sharing, financial support, and geopolitical signalling. By employing a systematic literature review, process tracing and discourse analysis, the study suggests that American support has developed non-linearly according to the dynamics of the battlefield, the escalation of the conflict and the domestic political constraints. US intervention helped to reshape the military balance, but also increased tensions with NATO and made settlement more difficult. The article is located in the context of proxy war, security dilemmas and liberal order theory, and finds US support to be essential for the survival of Ukraine, while also leaving unanswered questions on escalation management and the future of the Western security order.