Ukraine’s 43-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky ignored 68-year-old President Vladimir Putin’s stark warning to keep NATO out of Ukraine, asking the U.S., Poland and Lithuania to join Ukraine in joint military exercises. Putin warned Zelensky and NATO that any attempt by Ukraine to join NATO or participate in join military exercises would result in draconic consequences, including possible annexation of more Ukrainian territory. Ukraine messed with Putin Feb. 22, 2014, when a pro-Western, CIA-backed coup toppled the duly elected Kiev government of Viktor Yanukovich spearheaded by former world heavyweight champion boxer Vitali Klitschko. Putin hosted the Sochi Winter Olympics at the time, showing that the CIA capitalized on Putin unable to deploy Russian forces before Yanukovych was chased out of Kiev. Putin responded forcefully one week later.
:Putin mobilized the Russian army March 1 to invade Crimea, a strategic peninsula in the Black Sea, home of Russia’s warm water fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea. Crimea was a strategic battleground fought by Russia for the last 500 years but most recently1853-1856 where Russia lost a battle with France, United Kingdom, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia. When Putin seized Crimea from Ukraine March 1, 2014, it drew condemnation from the United Nations, insisting that Crimea was part of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. Gifted to Ukraine by the former Soviet Union’s Premier Nikita Khrushchev, Crimea was a hard-fought, coveted Russian territory. Putin’s decision to annex the territory March 1, 2014 was purely defensive, because the new Ukrainian government was hostile to Russia, especially the prospect of keeping its strategic navy base in Sevastopol.
Staging war games with U.S., Poland and Lithuania, Zelensky is pushing the limits with Putin, knowing that 78-year-old President Joe Biden just held a Geneva summit with Putin where he promised to de-escalate tensions with the U.S. Biden finds himself caught between a rock-and-a-hard-place threatening more sanctions against the Russian Federation for the criminal acts of criminal cyber gangs holding U.S. companies hostage with ransomware attacks. U.S. intel officials see Putin as complicit with the cyber criminals supported by the GRU [military intelligence] and FSB [foreign intelligence]. It’s pure speculation that the Russian Federation actively coordinates with criminal hacking gangs, recently attacking Florida-based Kaysea IT networks, supplying newtwork software to thousands of U.S. business. Whatever the recent hacks, Biden must now respond in kind.
Sending U.S. advisers to stage war games with Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania close to the Black Sea is bound to antagonize Putin and undo whatever good will emerged from the Geneva Summit. Zelensky won’t stop until he drags the U.S into a regional war with Russia. Zelensky has pushed for NATO membership since May 20, 2019, the day he took over from former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Calling the upcoming war games “The Dril: Three Swords-2021, it involves 1,200 soldiers and 200 combat vehicles, designed to run from July 17-30 at the Yavoriv training ground in Lviv region of Western Ukraine. “Three Swords-2021 creates favouable conditions for the development and effective coordination of units of partner states, in order to improve the quality and increase the level of combat capabilities,” said the Ukrainian military. Zelensky continues to push his luck.
Biden’s decision to join Three Swords training exercises undermines his promises to Putin in the Geneva summit, pushing U.S.-Russian distrust to the breaking point. If Three Swords weren’t bad enough, the U.S. and Ukraine started Sea Breeze 2021, involving 30 countries in the Black Sea, ignoring Kremlins calls to end the drills. Biden seems to play along with Zelensky’s provocations, knowing that, at any moment, it could escalate into a regional war with Russia. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 68, has been mum about what the U.S. hopes to accomplish in Ukraine. European Union and NATO officials want nothing to do with the latest provocations to Putin. Last week’s warning shots fired by Russia to deter a U.K. warship in the Black Sea proves new tensions have ramped up. One mistake now could start a war that no one in the EU or NATO wants to join.
Before the Ukraine sucks the U.S. and other allies into a regional war with Russia, European Commission President Usula von der Leyen and European Council President Chalres Michel should consult immediately with Biden about his new war games in Ukraine. No one in the EU wants to join Biden’s new Cold War with the Russian Federation, no matter how much they disagree with Putin’s track record on human rights. If the EU wants to be constructive, they should ask the White House for.consultation, largely because the current war games don’t involve any EU countries. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson can attest to the close encounter with the Russian navy only miles off the Crimean coast June 30. Unless the Western Alliance is prepared to spill blood for Ukraine, the message should be clear to Biden: Stop provoking Putin and the Russian Federation.
