Warning Russia to stop threatening the West with nuclear weapons, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, slated to retire by year’s end, signaled unity among NATO’s Eastern flank. “I expect leaders will agree to strengthen NATO’s posture in all domains, with major increase in the eastern part of the alliance. On land, in the air and at sea,” Stoltenberg told a summit in Brussels. President Joe Biden, 79, announced more Russian sanctions, something he hoped would bring 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin to his knees. NATO ministers know that Biden’s running the Ukraine War from the White House, funding Kiev to over $14 billion, supplying unlimited lethal weapons to the Black Sea nation. Putin told Biden Dec. 24, 2021 that if he didn’t renegotiate new security arrangements for Ukraine and Eastern Europe, he would take “military-technical measures.”
Biden continues to repeat the White House talking points that the Ukraine war was “unprovoked and unjustified,” despite the U.S. and NATO arming Ukraine to the teeth over the objections of Putin. When Biden ignored Putin’s pleas to renegotiate a new security deal, he invaded Ukraine Feb. 24. Yet if you listened to White House officials, there was no provocation. But said he couldn’t allow Russian national security compromised by a foreign power, taking action to protect Russian national security. With Biden running the war from the White House, there’s no interest yet in going to the peace table, looking for a ceasefire. But the longer the Ukraine War drags on, the more chances of a mishap that could trigger a wider conflagration, not something that Brussels wants or seeks. Yet Biden has taken a very aggressive stance on Putin, hitting the Kremlin with the harshest sanctions imaginable.
Sending more NATO troops to its Eastern flank does nothing to stop the Ukraine conflict, only tells Moscow that it’s prepared for any contingency. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky infuriated Putin for the last three years begging for NATO membership. While Stoltenberg understood the implications well, Ukraine never received membership because NATO wanted no part of a war with Moscow. “There is a new sense of urgency because we cannot take for granted,” Stotenberg told reporters, meaning the Ukraine War could spread to other Eastern European countries. Zelensky has been telling foreign states that WW III has already started in Europe and it Putin isn’t stopped he’ll repeat what Adolf Hitlers did in 1939. So far, there’s no evidence Putin leans toward knocking off more Eeastern European countries but since the Ukraine war, all bets are off, no one knows for sure.
Stoltenberg plans to bail out to serve as Norway’s chief central banker, a far cry from his life-or-death duties at NATO. Whether admitted or not, the last thing Stoltenberg wants is a war with the Russian Federation. He doesn’t really understand how things deteriorated so badly in Ukraine, believing the White House talking points that the war was “unprovoked and unjustified.” NATO minister must ask Biden where he expects to take the Ukraine War. No one knows the off-ramp for Ukraine or Russia, watching both countries reject going to the peace table. When it comes to Biden and Zelensky, they don’t want to concede one inch of Ukrainian territory, despite the fact that Putin already controls Crimea and Donetsk and Luhansk. “Russia should stop this dangerous nuclear rhetoric . . . .Russia must understand that it can never win a nuclear war,” Stoltenberg said.
Biden has been raising the specter of biological and chemical weapons, something Stoltenberg warned Putin against. Sloltenberg said there would be “far reaching consequences,” for using biological or chemical weapons, though not saying exactly what would happen. Biden hoped that his March 18 Zoom meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping would result in a commitment to condemn Russia. Biden was rebuffed by Xi, saying that condemnations don’t open up doors to peace and security. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Lucheng said that sanctions were “more and more outrageous,” disagreeing with the White House response to the war. Lucheng blamed NATO for starting the war by impinging on Russia’s national security. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hoped that China would come on board. But with Biden boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympics, relations aren’t good.
Whether admitted to or not by NATO and the EU, the Biden White House has burnt bridges with Russia and China. China actually formed a new security alliance with Russia, knowing that Biden backs the Republic of China [ROC], the Taiwan island nation China claims as its own. “For NATO, its of particular concern that China now, for the first time, has questioned some of the key principles for security, including the right for every nation in Europe to choose his own path,” Stoltenberg said. Stotenberg says nothing critical of the Biden White House for burning bridges with Russia and China. Biden insists the Ukraine war was “unprovoked and unjustified,” not admitting the extent to which the U.S. and NATO armed Ukraine with lethal weapons. Putin had enough of the White House ignoring his requests for a new security arrangement. Whatever Biden thinks, there are two sides to every conflict.
