There is a split within NATO regarding Russian aggression. This is another message that could be read between the lines in Joe Biden’s recent statement that there are still discussions in the Alliance about what exactly to regard as Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
To the topic World on the brink of change: Putin may start a war against the whole world
After a rather eventful week, let’s analyze together what a coalition of those Western countries that have declared their unconditional support for Ukraine, and who only pretends to be ready to fight Putinism looks like.
Discussion in NATO
Let’s start with Joe Biden’s recent statement that NATO will still debate how to respond to a so-called minor invasion.
“It’s one thing if it’s a minor invasion and we end up arguing about what to do and what not to do. But if they do what they can with forces concentrated on the border, it will be disastrous for Russia to invade further.” to Ukraine. There are divisions within NATO about what countries are willing to do, depending on what happens,” Biden said.
US President Joe Biden / Photo from Joe Biden’s Facebook page
Of course, later in the White House it was clarified that the United States considers any military attack on Ukraine by Russia as a full-scale war, and behind the wording “minor” the concepts of cyber attacks or any other form of hybrid war were hidden.
But the message has already been launched. The closer Putin’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, the clearer it becomes that NATO is not entirely united and there are those within the Alliance who are ready to make concessions to the Kremlin.
Many European experts said that although such a statement was not entirely correct, it was true and needed to be spoken. After all, until now, NATO has not clearly answered what will follow each probable action of the Russian Federation.
In fact, Biden, and then Blinken, clearly outlined the issues that remain unresolved, and with which some European players are ready to put up. And now the United States is ready to impose sanctions against Putin and for such scenarios of aggression, but is Europe ready for this? At first glance – ready, but unfortunately not all.
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Who’s ready to lend a helping hand
So, who today is definitely on the side of Ukraine and is not going to play appeasing Putin anymore?
First of all, it is the United States, which is not only the leader in resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, but also consolidates the entire West. It was the US Secretary of State who held a new round of negotiations with the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
note The United States will conduct large-scale military exercises in the Mediterranean Sea against the background of the Russian threat
In addition, today The Wall Street Journal reports that Washington nevertheless decided to transfer Mi-17 military transport helicopters to Ukraine.
Canada’s Foreign Minister announced yesterday that her country is considering sending weapons to Ukraine. In addition, Canada sends its special forces to our country, which must determine the degree of threat on the spot and immediately report to Canada.
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Great Britain
The UK is also 100% on our side. This is probably the only country today that has realized that diplomacy should have a strong, well-armed army of Ukraine behind its back.
The day before, British Foreign Minister Liz Truss stated in no uncertain terms that Russia had simply become insolent and did not understand what awaits it in the event of an invasion of Ukraine. That is why it is time to severely punish the Kremlin.
“The autocrats have grown bolder to a level not seen since the Cold War, they are trying to export dictatorship as a service around the world. That is why regimes such as Belarus, North Korea, Myanmar find their closest allies in Moscow and Beijing,” said Lisa Truss.
The Kremlin has not learned the lesson of history – an invasion will only drag you into a terrible swamp and lead to a loss of lives comparable to what we saw in the Soviet-Afghan war and in the conflict in Chechnya,
Truss said.
And importantly, Truss made this statement a few hours before the start of negotiations between Blinken and Lavrov in Geneva, and this is a great signal that Britain will always be on the side of Ukraine. This was later confirmed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
To the topic Britain announces new alliance with Poland and Ukraine
But these are not just words. They have ground. London handed over to Ukraine several thousand units of modern NLAW anti-tank systems capable of destroying invader tanks. In addition, Britain also sent a special forces detachment to Ukraine, which will train our soldiers in the shortest possible time how to destroy tanks with the help of NLAW.
Do not forget also that London received permission from Washington to transfer American weapons to Kiev, so NLAW deliveries are definitely not the end of the story.
On the other hand, Great Britain would be happy to send its military to Ukraine, but within the framework of NATO it cannot do this, and therefore decided to transfer its soldiers closer to our borders. The Times writes about it.
The UK’s move prompted other partners in Europe to be more decisive. Spain sent its ships to the Black and Mediterranean Seas to contain Putin.
In addition, Spain plans to move its fighter jets to neighboring Bulgaria to be ready to repel Putin’s attack. This was stated by the Minister of Defense of Spain Margarita Robles.
Russia cannot tell any country what to do, so Spain within NATO will protect the sovereignty of any country that can or wants to join NATO,
Robles said.
In addition, on the eve of the Baltic States – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – received official permission to supply American weapons to Ukraine. This means that soon Estonia will begin the transfer of Javelins, and Lithuania – missile systems. Stinger.
After Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Warsaw, where he met with Polish President Andrzej Duda, it was decided to establish a special communication channel between the presidents of the two countries for an urgent discussion of security issues.
In addition, Poland stated that it would continue to defend the most severe sanctions against Russia, as well as to achieve a complete freeze of Nord Stream 2. This was announced by the secretary of the Office of the President of Poland Kumoch.
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Northern Europe
All the leaders of the northern European countries – Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland – also showed their determination. The day before, they called on the Kremlin to de-escalate and resolve the conflict with Ukraine peacefully. This was stated after the meeting by the ministers of defense of the northern countries Christensen, Hulkvist, Eriksen Soreide, Kaikkonen.
Well, to make the position of the northern countries more understandable to the Kremlin, Denmark allocated 22 million euros of military assistance to Ukraine the day before, and Sweden transferred its military units to one of the islands bordering Russia.
note Denmark will allocate more than 20 million euros to Ukraine
Oddly enough, even the Czech Republic has declared that it is ready to transfer its artillery shells to Ukraine to repel Putin’s attack. The Czech Defense Ministry has already sent such a proposal to the Czech Parliament.
In addition, the Netherlands also expressed support for Ukraine. The day before, they announced that they were beginning to transfer modern F-35 fighters to Bulgaria, closer to the Ukrainian border.
In addition, today the authorities of the Netherlands announced that they are ready to start supplying weapons to Ukraine. Moreover, they are ready to do this both within the framework of NATO and at the direct request of Kiev.
Friends of the Kremlin
But, as I said at the beginning of this topic, not everything is so smooth inside NATO. For example, French President Emmanuel Macron the day before proposed not to escalate the situation, but to start his own, separate from the United States, dialogue between the EU and Russia, as a result of which a new security agreement should be concluded in the region. This idea was immediately criticized, because it runs counter to everything that has already been agreed upon.
But, believe me, France is not yet the Kremlin’s greatest friend in the current situation. Earlier, Estonia stated that it was ready to transfer 122-mm howitzers, which are made in Germany, to Ukraine, but this requires permission from Berlin.
And so Estonia handed over the application to Germany, and from there – silence. In addition, the supply of weapons from the Netherlands through NATO is under threat, because this decision is still blocked by Germany.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz / Photo by Historical Pravda
But this was not even the apogee of Germany’s absurd behavior. The German publication Der Spiegel reported that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected Joe Biden’s offer to personally discuss the situation around Ukraine.
Scholz referred to the fact that he has a lot to do and he simply has no time to talk about such issues, because he has a visit to Madrid ahead of him, and therefore most likely the meeting will not take place until mid-February. The publication’s experts admit that Scholz is simply afraid of losing the Kremlin’s money, and therefore is playing for time in the hope that the problem will disappear by itself.
Results
Summing up, today the unconditional partner of Ukraine in the fight with Putin is, of course, the United States and Great Britain. In addition, Canada showed determination, but if we talk about Europe, then these are Spain, Poland, Austria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and the Netherlands.
But, oddly enough, those who for 8 years acted as mediators between Ukraine and Russia in the Normandy format are opposed to helping Ukraine. So draw your own conclusions…
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