LOS ANGELES.–Meeting in Prague with 38-year-old Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, 62-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken makes the case that Ukraine has a right of self-defense to attack targets inside the Russian Federation. Since the war began Feb. 24, 2022, 81-year-old President Joe Biden insisted that U.S. weapons, including medium and long-range missiles, must be used inside the Ukrainian battlefield to prevent any escalation in the conflict. Now Blinken tells Lipavsky that the U.S. has “adapted” its position consistent with NATO to allow Ukraine to hit targets in Russian territory. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned combatants that any use of U.S. or NATO weapons to attack Russia would be seen as a direct and provocative threat to the Russian Federation and could be met with a nuclear response. Russian President Vladimir Putin, 71, has echoed the same warning.
Blinken joined NATO foreign ministers in Prague where the Trans-Atlantic Alliance attempts to deal with Russian misinformation and disinformation, identified as “poison,” signed in a joint declaration by the U.S. and Czech Republic. Taken to a military base where armored personnel carrier were ready for transfer to Ukraine, the Czech government plans to provide Kiev with a million rounds of ammunition to wage its war against the Kremlin. Blinken said the 17th agreement signed by the U.S. with its European partners aimed at confronting Russian misinformation and disinformation “to effectively deal with misinformation and disinformation, which is a poison being injected into our democracies by our adversaries.” Blinken’s words signal an escalation in the Ukraine conflict where Putin will be forced to respond directly to NATO members supplying arms to Ukraine.
Blinken asks the Czech Republic to escalate the war, not knowing, sitting in Washington, what an escalation would look like on the European Continent. “We know that a major front in the competition that we have, the adversarial relationship that we have, notably with Russia, is on the information front,” Blinken said. Biden’s foreign policy has ended decades of diplomacy, détente and arms control with the Kremlin, acknowledging that the U.S. has become a mortal enemy of Russia. European countries need to ask themselves whether they want to join the U.S. fight against the Kremlin, leaving them vulnerable in Europe to potential Russian attacks. “The more we’re able to do together both between our countries but also with other countries, the more effective were going to be exposing it and dealing with it,” Blinken said, clearly looking to escalate the Ukraine War.
Blinken has the younger Lipavsky buying into the latest attempt to escalate the conflict, potentially leading to attacks on European soil by the Kremlin. “The more we’re able to do together both between our countries but also with other countries, the more effective we’re going to be with exposing it and dealing it,” Lipavsky told Blinken. Blinken as obliquely gotten Lipavsky to join the U.S. escalation with the Kremlin, potentially leading to direct military confrontation in Europe. “We’re facing confrontation between democracies and autocracies,” Lipavsky said, acting like the Czech Republic is ready for war with Russia. “The Kremlin has started targeting democracies all around the world with cyber warfare, propaganda and influence operations and this danger simply cannot be underestimated anymore,” Lipavsky said, agreeing with Blinken about escalation.
When it comes to misinformation and disinformation, both sides play that game but Blinken looks to gain support for Ukraine to start attacking targets inside Russia, something Putin said would be a red line. “Ukraine cannot fight against Russia with one hand tied behind its back,” Lipavsky said. “Ukraine must be able to fight against Russia’s barbaric invasion even on Russian territory. Political resolve must be backed with credible capabilities,” Lipavsky said, not knowing how he’d respond by a Russian military attack on Prague. Blinken has been advocating escalating the war, the same message that Ukraine’s 46-year-old President gives to Congress the European Union. Zelensky keeps saying that with more weapons and cash he can eventually defeat the Russian Federation. No military analyst, including his own chief general, believes Ukraine can defeat the Kremlin.
If war breaks out on the European Continent, spreading to other countries, it’s a whole new ballgame with the U.S. and NATO most likely forced to send troops into the battlefield. U.S. voters aren’t paying attention because the White House shields the press and the public from how close Biden has pushed the Ukraine War to WW III. Speaking in Chisinau, Moldova, Blinken spewed the White House line that the conflict required new steps to confront the Russian threat. “I believe that time has come to [re]consider some of these restrictions to enable the Ukrainians to really defend themselves,” Blinken said. “We need to remember what it is. This is a war of aggression launched by choice by Moscow against Ukraine,” giving the justification for morphing the conflict into WW III. Czech officials aren’t ready for what Blinken wants, including war with the Kremlin.
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.
