US never wanted to fight Russia directly as it would mean nuclear escalation.

US needs somewhat strong Russia as a scarecrow for Europe and everyone else in the world, so that people would join NATO and pay 4% of GDP to the American military industrial complex: Lockheed Raytheon and friends.

The goal is to scare people and force them to shell out dough for overpriced US weapons.

If Russia becomes too weak, there are two risks:

  1. Nuclear/Biowarfare proliferation due to instability inside RU
  2. Europe won't spend a dime procuring US weapons because Russia would not be a threat anymore
  3. China can increase influence in Russia

so American goal is to keep somewhat stable Russia and force EU to shell dough on US weapons. Thats the racket, everything else is a distraction