The cease-fire in eastern Ukraine is under strain as Kiev presses the West for more financial and military aid. Americans' sympathies should go to both Ukrainians and Russians suffering in Russian President Vladimir Putin's deadly geopolitical games, but Washington should stay out of the battle.

Putin obviously bears immediate responsibility for the conflict, having seized Crimea and promoted separatist conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine. However, Washington and Brussels consistently disregarded Russian security interests. The allies even encouraged the ouster of an elected pro-Russian government in Kiev.

That still didn't justify Putin's actions and the results have been a horror for many Ukrainians, though Kiev's military and nationalist militias have contributed to the unnecessary carnage. However, Moscow views the war less about expanding Russia's "empire" than about protecting Russia from America's expanding "empire."