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Written by Uriel Araujo, researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts
In a disturbing and rather underreported development, NATO is starting to deploy combat troops to Ukraine, with British, French, Polish and other soldiers arriving in huge numbers, writes Stephen Bryen (former staff director of the Near East Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former deputy undersecretary of defense for policy), noting that those are not mercenaries, but regular military “in uniform, home country proclaimed via insignia”, and mostly “concentrated in the western part of the country, although in some cases they are close to the actual fighting in the east.”
Bryen highlights that there are reports about some Ukrainian brigades refusing orders from their commanders including the 47th Mechanized Brigade, the 25th Airborne Assault Brigade,the 67th Mechanized Brigade, and others top Army brigades. Ukraine is basically losing the war, and that the US security establishment knows that. A Politico story reports that Washington is not convinced that Kyiv can possibly achieve military victory, even with the new $60 billion aid. US President John Biden is signing this bill into law to send a $60 billion military aid package to the Eastern European country so that it can get artillery shells and air defense systems.
Poland’s Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz claimed last week that Warsaw is ready to help Kyiv get military-age men back by sending back Ukrainian refugees. In this context, NATO (or European) troops could be one last desperate measure?
NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in fact admitted, in a very underreported statement, that “several NATO allies have men and women in uniform at the embassies” (in Ukraine), but claimed they are merely “giving advice.” Stoltenberg has also announced that NATO countries have air defense systems ready to be sent to the Slavic country. He emphasized NATO members have the “right” to “help” Ukraine, but this does not make the Atlantic Alliance itself a party to the conflict. As Bryen writes, if such military personnel “are firing at the Russians the only proper way to interpret their presence is that they are playing an active part in the shooting war.” Bryen notes that in Vietnam too, the US sent “advisors” who turned out to be US Special Forces engaging in combat.
As I wrote, former NATO Commander James Stavridis argued in November last year that the US should learn from “the lessons of South Korea” and negotiate a “land for peace conclusion to combat” in Ukraine. He argued that “much as South Korea was not in a position to demand a complete territorial victory over the north in the 1950s, Ukraine is not in a position to demand a complete Russian withdrawal from its territory”, which remains true to this day, and adds that “this will probably bog down into a frozen conflict.” Such a depressive outcome to Kyiv, which is a major defeat from the perspective of Washington’s geopolitical goals, still seems in any case to be the most realistic scenario. There is a catch, though. The retired admiral basically proposes to rebuild what is left of Ukraine and then maybe make it become an Atlantic Alliance member. One should keep in mind this is no fool, but rather a very well-accomplished diplomat, scholar, and statesman, being, among many other things, a chair emeritus of the US Naval Institute’s board of directors.
The massive arrival of NATO countries’ military personnel in Western Ukraine could thus be seen as the materialization of a de facto “partition” of Ukraine starting to gradually unfold. The main red flag here is the presence of these soldiers also in Eastern Ukraine, “near the actual fighting.” Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has voiced his concern about a high risk of military incidents on the Belarus-Ukraine border, and added that it would be “apocalypse” if Moscow retaliated against Western actions by employing nuclear weapons.
As I wrote last week, the West can play with words, in a Schrödinger’s cat manner (“advisors, not combatants” and “European troops, not NATO troops”) as much as it wants. In any case, NATO’s Article 5, which states that an “armed attack” (against a NATO member) “shall be considered an attack against them all”, is still binding. From a Western perspective, if NATO European states send troops to the combat zone in Ukraine and Russia retaliates by attacking them while Washington does nothing, this would render NATO pointless and permanently destroy the Atlantic Alliance credibility and raison d’être. If, on the other hand, the US and/or other European powers decide to escalate things and retaliate, then the “apocalypse” becomes a little closer. Those are not positive scenarios, either way.
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nothing less than a total surrender, no more “peace”-talks or anything that only smells like nato will end-up in a body bag. end of transmission.
just another no change in the fatal 404 version disconned to the rest of the globe 🙈
it seemes their there globe must be under the lass hair of putins
if nato is present, it’s time to nuke nato hubs as described by the law
yes, our nato nazi terrorists are already there to die for our mighty dollar!
got played like a fiddle, guillable eurotard clowns! 🤡 😆😆😆
yes friend, since 2014 to be more specific, nothing new
nuclear war imminent!
poland tv i watch , and they says on tv that nato is prepearing to protect west side of the ukraine with its own soldiers, thats why england poland sweden finland and france sending troops, and the tv spiker said that on tv said that erdogan invited to usa cuz they will ask big amounts troops from turkey too as nato member, and france deploy nucleer umbrella on poland
no nuclear umbrella can stop a russian hypersonic nuke, so cope bastard
if you wanna see a bastard look in to mirror , you will see yourself there bastard
finland is not sending any troops. and i thing nether will sweden. poland tv is telling propaganda. every eu country is a pupper and destroying it’s own economy who sticks in this.
take macrons comments regarding not letting russia win at any cost as serious and act accordingly. he speaks not for the french people but for his masters. the french people are as yet totally unaware of their soldiers, ie légionnaires, being in ukraine, and so unaware also that many are dead already.
macron as all politicians in the west is a pupett of the jews… if you really oppose them you simply don’t have acess to msm. if you are famous and talk, you disappears from tv and they put you on trial and take your wealth…. its a dictatorship posing as a democracy.
kill them and show their identities
the usa organized the war in ukraine for its own financial interests.
2/3 of german companies have moved abroad at least partially due to the energy crisis that followed the conflict in ukraine. the price of electricity and gas has multiplied, bankruptcies are exploding. eu countries suffer because of the usa’s goal to promote its own economy at the expense of others. industrial collapse is at hand and yet eu leaders support their own destruction.
watch from y o u t u b e “how america destroyed the german economy”
it tells the other side of why the usa is destroying europe.
the other side is the same as the destruction of libya, the destruction of the currencies that destroy the dollar’s extortion power. the russia-china sanctions were aimed at weakening brics.
the polish parliament is going to consider new rule next week ,ukrainian refugees to show a valid passport to get benefits from the poland. previously, ukrainians could show any document proving their identity to the polish authorities. it is also unclear whether ukrainians without a valid passport will be able to work legally in poland.
russia should carpet bomb all the concentrations off nato, ya nkee and uk terrorists in the west ukraine !!! and close the borders by bombing bridges, railroeds, highways !!!
“us president john biden”
sf writers keeping to their usual high standards…
any nato troops operating in ukraine need the “foreign legion” treatment.
what a well-crafted post! your attention to detail is admirable, and your writing style is very engaging.
hi there! just wanted to let you know how much i enjoyed reading this post. your approach to the subject was unique and informative. it’s clear that you put a lot of effort into your writing. keep up the great work, and i can’t wait to see what else you have in store.
the depth of your comparative analysis between different frameworks enhances the article’s overall academic contribution.
hi there! just wanted to let you know how much i enjoyed reading this post. your approach to the subject was unique and informative. it’s clear that you put a lot of effort into your writing. keep up the great work, and i can’t wait to see what else you have in store.
hi there! just wanted to let you know how much i enjoyed reading this post. your approach to the subject was unique and informative. it’s clear that you put a lot of effort into your writing. keep up the great work, and i can’t wait to see what else you have in store.
thank you for this insightful post! the information you provided is very useful and well-explained. i especially liked how you broke down complex concepts into easily understandable parts. your writing is clear and concise, making it a pleasure to read. keep up the great work.
hi there! just wanted to let you know how much i enjoyed reading this post. your approach to the subject was unique and informative. it’s clear that you put a lot of effort into your writing. keep up the great work, and i can’t wait to see what else you have in store.
me ha parecido muy valiosa la discusión sobre las implicaciones de este tema para la formulación de políticas públicas.