Regarding Ukraine. It cannot be admitted to NATO given that it is already at war. This is a clause in the NATO charter.
However, to assert that Ukraine eventually joining NATO is Putin's excuse for attacking Ukraine is patently false and echos the talking points of the far left and far right in the USA as reason to abandon Ukraine.
The Ukrainians were not primarily seeking to join NATO. What they really wanted was to join the European Union for a more prosperous future which they would not have if yoked to a fascist oligarchical petro-regime.
Putin wants to reconstitute a proto-Russian Empire. The doctrine for this action was enunciated by Alexander Dugin in his 1997 book "The Foundations of Geopolitics" The Wikipedia is a short cut getting the an idea of the ideology behind the current Russian state.
The book literally calls for the Baltic states, Belorus, Moldova, parts of Georgia and others to be reunited under the Russian state. With regards to Ukraine: Eastern Ukraine should be annexed into Russia because "Ukraine as a state has no geopolitical meaning, no particular cultural import or universal significance, no geographic uniqueness, no ethnic exclusiveness, its certain territorial ambitions represents an enormous danger for all of Eurasia and, without resolving the Ukrainian problem, it is in general senseless to speak about continental politics"
The USSR began disintrating after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the freedom movement in Poland. IN 1994, the newly independent Ukraine was pressured by the west to give up nuclear weapons located in Ukraine back to the Russians in exchange for territorial integrity. This Budapest Memorandum also noted that the U.S., the U.K. and Russia would guarantee Ukraine's security. Putin BROKE that agreement. He did so in Georgia in 2008 (again see Dugin's book). Putin used the excuse of Russian speakers being attacked or treated poorly in northern Georgia and he did the same in eastern Ukraine. He has made the same saber rattling recently about Lithuania and it's Russian speakers. Sound familiar? Can you say Sudetenland and Western Poland 1938-39?
It's no surprise then that upon getting out from under Russian domination so many former USSR 'republics' as well as former Warsaw Pact and "behind the iron curtain nations" joined NATO.
Albania, Bujlgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia- all former Iron Curain nations- joined in the years between 1999 and as recent as 2020! Former Republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all joined in 2004. Had Russia not invaded Ukraine, both Sweden and Finland would likely still not be in NATO, but the war had moved the needle for them.
NATO is a defensive alliance and the only aggressive operation it has ever committed was actions to stem the slaughter of civilians during the Serbian-Bosnian war- effectively defensive. NATO also used military power to combat pirates in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The "NATO made me do it" from Putin and apologists is pure Russian propaganda.
And I don't think a promise to Ukraine is solely an American promise. The European nations are aggressively stepping up support for Ukraine because the stakes are higher for them than us if Russia succeeds with an aggressor Putin on their doorstep. Remember, Dugin advovates taking parts of Poland. The Poles know this!
In your other article you said if we continue to back Ukraine it might give Russia a reason to strike back at us. I think you also said Ukraine was not winning? First, Ukraine doesn't have to "win" when fighting defensively. And Russia is NOT winning- it's economy is sinking, they are losing too many men in meat-grinder combat. Ukrainians tactics have been so successful that Ukrainians have been sent to the USA to train the USA Army especially with drone warfare on the battle field (as opposed to the high flying Predator drones type of warfare).
I follow several very knowledgeable people on the platform Medium which include Chris Snow, Shankar Narayan, and Dylan Combellick (a former US intelligence analyst married to a Ukrainian woman- he speaks both Russian and Ukranian). Nadin Brzezinski is on Substack. All have great insight and good sources of information with regards to Russia, Ukraine and the war.
Regarding Ukraine. It cannot be admitted to NATO given that it is already at war. This is a clause in the NATO charter.
However, to assert that Ukraine eventually joining NATO is Putin's excuse for attacking Ukraine is patently false and echos the talking points of the far left and far right in the USA as reason to abandon Ukraine.
The Ukrainians were not primarily seeking to join NATO. What they really wanted was to join the European Union for a more prosperous future which they would not have if yoked to a fascist oligarchical petro-regime.
Putin wants to reconstitute a proto-Russian Empire. The doctrine for this action was enunciated by Alexander Dugin in his 1997 book "The Foundations of Geopolitics" The Wikipedia is a short cut getting the an idea of the ideology behind the current Russian state.
The book literally calls for the Baltic states, Belorus, Moldova, parts of Georgia and others to be reunited under the Russian state. With regards to Ukraine: Eastern Ukraine should be annexed into Russia because "Ukraine as a state has no geopolitical meaning, no particular cultural import or universal significance, no geographic uniqueness, no ethnic exclusiveness, its certain territorial ambitions represents an enormous danger for all of Eurasia and, without resolving the Ukrainian problem, it is in general senseless to speak about continental politics"
The USSR began disintrating after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the freedom movement in Poland. IN 1994, the newly independent Ukraine was pressured by the west to give up nuclear weapons located in Ukraine back to the Russians in exchange for territorial integrity. This Budapest Memorandum also noted that the U.S., the U.K. and Russia would guarantee Ukraine's security. Putin BROKE that agreement. He did so in Georgia in 2008 (again see Dugin's book). Putin used the excuse of Russian speakers being attacked or treated poorly in northern Georgia and he did the same in eastern Ukraine. He has made the same saber rattling recently about Lithuania and it's Russian speakers. Sound familiar? Can you say Sudetenland and Western Poland 1938-39?
It's no surprise then that upon getting out from under Russian domination so many former USSR 'republics' as well as former Warsaw Pact and "behind the iron curtain nations" joined NATO.
Albania, Bujlgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia- all former Iron Curain nations- joined in the years between 1999 and as recent as 2020! Former Republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all joined in 2004. Had Russia not invaded Ukraine, both Sweden and Finland would likely still not be in NATO, but the war had moved the needle for them.
NATO is a defensive alliance and the only aggressive operation it has ever committed was actions to stem the slaughter of civilians during the Serbian-Bosnian war- effectively defensive. NATO also used military power to combat pirates in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The "NATO made me do it" from Putin and apologists is pure Russian propaganda.
And I don't think a promise to Ukraine is solely an American promise. The European nations are aggressively stepping up support for Ukraine because the stakes are higher for them than us if Russia succeeds with an aggressor Putin on their doorstep. Remember, Dugin advovates taking parts of Poland. The Poles know this!
In your other article you said if we continue to back Ukraine it might give Russia a reason to strike back at us. I think you also said Ukraine was not winning? First, Ukraine doesn't have to "win" when fighting defensively. And Russia is NOT winning- it's economy is sinking, they are losing too many men in meat-grinder combat. Ukrainians tactics have been so successful that Ukrainians have been sent to the USA to train the USA Army especially with drone warfare on the battle field (as opposed to the high flying Predator drones type of warfare).
I follow several very knowledgeable people on the platform Medium which include Chris Snow, Shankar Narayan, and Dylan Combellick (a former US intelligence analyst married to a Ukrainian woman- he speaks both Russian and Ukranian). Nadin Brzezinski is on Substack. All have great insight and good sources of information with regards to Russia, Ukraine and the war.