Originally appeared at A-specto, translated by Borislav exclusively for SouthFront
“The European path to stabilization does not pass through cosmetic measures of confidence, but through freezing the decision of deploying new NATO forces in Eastern Europe” said Alexander Grushko, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Alliance after the meeting of the Russia-Nato Council. Grushko added that the Alliance’s decisions from last week create a new reality in Europe, which undermines military security. It was the first meeting between Russian and NATO representatives after the decision to deploy four new battalions in Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, at the meeting of the Warsaw Pact Summit. According to Moscow, the increased military presence on the eastern flank of NATO seriously undermines the already complicated relations between NATO and Russia. Interestingly, from a purely military point of view, these battalions have almost no importance. If it comes to military conflict between Russia and NATO, a hypothesis that borders on insanity, those battalions will be destroyed in no time. So their only purpose is to provoke Moscow further, ie they are part of a hybrid war led by the US and its proxies against Russia.
Therefore, the words of the NATO Secretary General, told at a news conference immediately after the meeting of the Russia-NATO Council, should not surprise us: “The Allies and Russia have deep and persistent disagreements about Ukraine. Today there was no consensus.” Surely there can be no consensus, given that one side in the dialogue is constantly “saber rattling” as the German Foreign Minister Franz Walter Steinmeier aptly put it. Even at the last meeting of the NATO summit in Warsaw, Russia was again defined as a greater threat to world peace than the thugs of Isis. Strange logic indeed. There are people who have proclaimed a caliphate, and who commit inhuman atrocities in the Middle East and in the center of Europe, but that somehow goes unnoticed. Meanwhile, Washington and Brussels are constantly squeaking about the great danger that Russia represents for the world. As if Russia is the one who bloodied Paris twice in the last year, or Brussels this year. Indeed, it is difficult to build trust in such a relationship.
There were however some positive moments at the meeting of the Russia-NATO Council. In the words of Stoltenberg, Russia has offered a constant use of transponders during flights of warplanes over the Baltic Sea. This step will help to reduce the risk of accidents in the sky. Stoltenberg promised that NATO members will carefully consider this proposal. As for Ukraine, a consensus between Russia and the Western hawks could hardly be achieved. Not that they care especially for Ukraine. They are deeply indifferent as to whether this country will flourish or will finally sink in the chaos of managerial incompetence. The only important thing for the United States, and respectively for NATO, is that Ukraine remain a buffer zone to serve as a staging ground for attacks against Russia. Its not surprising that Moscow has difficulty having a sincere dialogue with American or European politicians, who do everything possible to undermine its security.
The only thing NATO and Israel understand or respect, is the use of force right back against them. That is it. Never try and appease them, they are never satisfied.