In 79-year-old President Joe Biden’s dangerous game of chicken with 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin, 62-year-old NATO Secretary-General Jens Stotenberg blinked firs, promising to resume the NATO-Russia Council [NRC] to start talks on Ukraine. Putin has set his “red line” to NATO refusing to admit Ukraine for membership, something Putin said would trigger a decisive response, including a possible invasion of the Donbass region of Eastern Ukraine. U.S., EU and NATO intel officials see a possible Russian invasion after New Years. Putin has stationed some 95,000 troops inside the Russian border with Ukraine, sending a loud message to Washington and Brussels to stop NATO’s encroachment on Russia. Putin’s well aware that NATO has already supplied Ukraine with advisers and military hardware, including Javelin anti-Tank missiles, armored Humvees and radios.
Putin called the U.S. and NATO out for supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine at the request of 43-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky. Since taking office May 20, 2019, Zelensky has begged NATO for membership, despite knowing Putin would consider that an act of war. Stotenberg doesn’t want NATO to fight Ukraine’s battles, including using NATO firepower to attempt to recapture Crimea from Russian control. Whether admitted to or not, NATO wants no part of Ukraine’s battle with the Russian Federation. Zelensky claims that Ukraine has lost 14,000 troops since March 1, 2014, the date Putin ordered the Red Army to invade Crimea. Western officials are on high alert for the possibility that Russia will once again seize more Ukrainian territory in the Eastern Donbass region. Western officials have no proof of Putin’s intent, only wild conjecture about a possible invasion.
Reviving the NATO-Russia Council, Stotenberg hopes to start a dialogue with Moscow, dispelling any wild disinformation that NATO plans to use chemical weapons in Ukraine. With communication essentially cut off, operating through the fake news, Stolteberg thought a meaningful dialogue was a good first step. But Putin wants more than dialogue, he wants legal guarantees that NATO will not extend membership to Ukraine. Dialogue has not gone well with Biden who essentially told Putin he doesn’t recognize anyone’s “red lines.” Putin wants the legal guarantees from Biden, something not likely to happen. Biden thinks that any sovereign state can decide what security it wants. “Any dialogue with Russia has of course to respect the core principles which European security has been based on,” Stotenberg said. Putin doesn’t care about NATO principles, he wants legal guarantees.
Biden and Stoltengberg have antagonized Putin, sending offensive weapons to Ukraine to repel a Russian invasion. But Biden and Stoltenberg know it wouldn’t take much for the Ukrainian army to collapse, recognizing that a sizable part of the Ukrainian population rejects the pro-Western Kiev government. Biden and Stoltengberg don’t admit that Putin invaded Crimea only after a CIA-backed coup led by former heavyweight boxer Vitali Klitschko, Putin had no plan to annex Crimea until the CIA-backed pro-Western coup chased duly elected, Kremlin-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych out of Kiev. So when Stoltenberg says he must adhere to NATO principles, does that include colluding in a coup that toppled Yanukovych? Putin’s had enough of U.S. and NATO promises to not meddle in Ukraine, or, for that matter, the entire Black Sea region
Stoltenberg can’t have it both ways, saying on principle NATO must support any sovereign state’s wish to join the Transatlantic Alliance. What possible national security interest does the U.S. or EU have in Ukraine or the Black Sea region? “So we will never compromise on our right to defend all allies and will never compromise on the right of each and every country in Europe, including Ukraine, to choose its own path,” Stoltenberg said, essentially declaring war on Russia. NATO has no business spreading out into the Black Sea region, other than antagonizing the Kremlin. Rejecting Putin’s “red line” throws down the gauntlet for a military challenge to Ukraine continuing to ask to join NATO, but, more importantly, already receiving offensive weapons to repel any Russian invasion. Stoltengerg shouldn’t talk about NATO “princiiples,” he should commit himself to defusing the Ukraine situation.
Stoltenberg, who’s under consideration for Norway’s chief central banker, will be forced to eat his words, saying NATO would stand on principle, not to acquiesce to Putin’s demands. Does Stoltenberg, who could bail on NATO at any time, set NATO up for a war with the Russian Federation? Biden and Stoltenberg should get off their high horses and say that good neighbors don’t stand on principle unless they’re looking to pick a fight with Putin. Putin’s asked only for legal assurances that Ukraine won’t be considered for NATO membership. NATO membership prohibits any sovereign state from membership when it’s actively involved in armed conflict. Ukraine says it’s lost some 14,000 soldiers since 2014, preventing NATO from extending membership. But whatever the situation, Biden and Stoltenberg need to stop standing on principle and get back to diplomacy.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
