President Vladimir Putin has said he would ponder various options if the West fails to meet Moscow’s demands for security guarantees, amid heightened tensions involving a massive deployment of Russian troops near Ukraine.
Moscow earlier this month submitted draft security documents demanding an end to NATO’s eastward expansion and military cooperation with countries such as Ukraine and Georgia, among other things.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the Yugoslav wars, Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II. Although the Balkan states moved toward democratic governance and integration with NATO and the European Union in the immediate aftermath of the wars, consistent neglect on the part of the West has contributed to a dramatic backsliding in recent years. Now Russian President Vladimir Putin is seizing his opportunity and using the former Yugoslav states as the next battlefield to weaken NATO and the European Union.
NATO’s Weakness Invites Russian Aggression
“Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.” -Artistotle
In September, we ran a story about the think tank, RAND, and their war game after an action that essentially proved NATO, like a pearl of wisdom in Congress, is powerless against Russia if they were to take any military action towards Europe.
Without adequate ground forces to slow the attack’s momentum, there was no way for NATO to halt the Russian assault.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Prime Minister of Romania, Nicolae Ciucă, to NATO headquarters on Tuesday. The Secretary General congratulated Ciucă for his appointment as Prime Minister, as well as praising Romania’s contributions to the Alliance, including for playing an essential role in the Black Sea region. Stoltenberg also welcomed Romania’s efforts to help build stability in the Western Balkans, and its support to NATO’s partners, including to Moldova and Ukraine.
A third world war may begin for the same reasons that World War I did, as a result of the collapse of communications between major powers and miscalculations arising from the resulting tendency of governments to impute intentions on the basis of observed capabilities, Andrey Kortunov says.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had been isolated on Ukraine in a series of major summits throughout December, but that changed significantly on Wednesday when his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping offered his strong support, strengthening an emerging Moscow-Beijing axis.
The Chinese premier’s alliance with Putin — one of the key factors emboldening Russian foreign policy in recent years — has significant implications not only for geopolitics but also the global economy. With both men potentially in power until well into the 2030s, they may well be seen by future historians as the two dominant figures in international relations in the first three to four decades of the 21st century.
Cognizant of India’s growing strategic denouement with Russia, visibly so in 2021, in wake of Russia’s outsized priority to China and pivot to Pakistan in its South Asian policy formulations, Russian President Putin made a significant six-hour dash to India, to rebalance Russia’s fraying strategic partnership with India on December 06 2021 for a Summit Meet with Indian PM Modi and also to mark the initiation of Russia-India 2+2 Dialogue of respective Foreign Ministers and Defence Ministers.
Older Russians blame NATO for rising tensions between the Kremlin and Western powers over Ukraine, according to a public survey conducted this week by an independent Moscow-based pollster.
Across all age groups, half of those polled by the Levada Center believe the United States and other NATO nations are “the initiators of the exacerbation of the situation in eastern Ukraine,” while only 4% blamed Russia. Sixteen percent saw Kyiv as being responsible for worsening relations.
While much of the world wonders when Russia will invade Ukraine, the US Senate’s number 2 ranking member on the Armed Forces committee has added something new:
When will the US invade Russia?
Senator Roger Wicker disclosed that a US invasion of Russia is on the table. He spoke on national TV immediately after the Biden-Putin virtual summit about Ukraine.
Amid a big Russian military buildup near Ukraine and on the Russian-controlled Crimean Peninsula, the Kremlin has kept a lot of people guessing about its plans and intentions.
It did the same after President Vladimir Putin’s video call with U.S. President Joe Biden on December 7, issuing a statement about the talks nearly two hours after the White House released its readout.