Why are Ukraine’s NATO ambitions so controversial? And could an all-out war break out? We answer the critical questions.
NATO allies, fearful of a potential ground invasion by Russia, have stepped up support for Kyiv by sending additional troops and military equipment to Ukraine.
The alliance says its move is in response to Russia’s continued military buildup along the Ukraine border.
Speaking at a press conference with Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the written response by the US to Russia’s key demands from December indicated that “the fundamental concerns of Russia have been ignored.”
The main demands from the December 17 document, which the Kremlin made public, were the non-extension of NATO, including a guarantee that Ukraine would not be admitted as a member; a return to its borders as agreed upon in the 1997 NATO-Russia agreement; and a guarantee that it would not station missiles in Eastern Europe and withdraw those that already exist.
Vladimir Putin is a bully and a despot: Appeasing him overtly is certainly wrong. But Russia must be handled with cleverness and care and NATO, with its unnecessary overreach on Ukraine, failed to do so
Vladimir Putin is a bully and a menace. Standing up for his victims will always feel right, and appeasing him overtly would certainly be wrong. But Russia must be handled with cleverness and care. The West has put itself in an awkward position by overreaching unnecessarily on NATO membership for Ukraine.
Some 2,000 American troops will be deployed to Poland and Germany, while around 1,000 troops now based in Germany will head to Romania
U.S. President Joe Biden has approved sending additional forces to Eastern Europe, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday, as Washington reinforces its allies against what it describes as a Russian threat to invade Ukraine.
The Cold War ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the diminishing of Moscow’s influence in Eastern Europe. The geopolitical situation of world today has presented Russia with an opportunity to again assert its primacy in Eastern Europe. The United States now is deeply divided politically and is challenged by China in an unprecedented manner which is seeking to displace the United States as the most powerful nation in the world. As the United States has changed it’s priorities to focus its defence and geopolitical influence towards countering China in the Indo-Pacific region, Russia has sensed an opportunity it was waiting for and has directly challenged NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in Europe.
Putin seems to understand Biden. Putin also seems to understand hollow threats and ineffective sanctions.
Putin, in addition, reduced natural gas exports to Europe by 41% last month… It appears to be a “squeeze play.” Putin would appear to be choking off natural gas supplies to Europe as a wedge, to divide the United States from NATO allies over the threatened “severe sanctions.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused the U.S. and its allies of ignoring Russia’s top security demands but said Moscow is willing to talk more to ease tensions over Ukraine.
The comments were his first on the standoff in more than a month and suggested a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine may not be imminent and that at least one more round of diplomacy is likely.
The table tennis coach, the chaplain’s wife, the dentist and the firebrand nationalist have little in common except a desire to defend their hometown and a sometimes halting effort to speak Ukrainian instead of Russian.
The situation in Kharkiv, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from some of the tens of thousands of Russian troops massed at the border of Ukraine, feels particularly perilous. Ukraine’s second-largest city is one of its industrial centers and includes two factories that restore old Soviet-era tanks or build new ones.
At a State Department press briefing, the department’s spokesperson Ned Price fielded the following question:
QUESTION: Russian officials have warned Moscow could deploy troops to Cuba and Venezuela if the U.S. and NATO insist on the crisis of Ukraine. Is the U.S. concerned about it? Have you seen any movement in that regard?
MR PRICE: Look, we are not going to respond to bluster. If we do see any movement in that direction, we will respond swiftly and decisively.[1]
At a White House Press Conference, US President Joe Biden fielded a question about a hypothetical NATO response to a Russian attack on Ukraine. He answered: “I think what you’re going to see is that Russia will be held accountable if it invades. And it depends on what it does. It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion.”[1]