Posted on 03/17/2025 5:43:13 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko reportedly said that the Kremlin wants an "ironclad" guarantee that Ukraine will be prohibited from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as the Trump administration works to broker a deal to end the fighting.
"We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement," Grushko was quoted by the Russian newspaper Izvestia as saying, according to Reuters. "Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of NATO countries to accept it into the alliance."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
A similar agreement did get them out of Austria, and that’s why Austria is not a NATO member to this day.
And we didn’t want nuclear missiles in Cuba. Theirs is a completely understandable position.
The dirty little secret is deep down, the Euros really don’t want Ukraine in NATO, but it is a good bargaining chip, so they’ll pretend that they really do want them in NATO.
I say it’s about time to call the Russians bluff and see if they take it, if they keep moving the goalposts, then we’ll know where we stand.
We should let them know we plan on leaving NATO ourselves.
Negotiating.
NATO doesn’t go around invading and annexing new members. Countries scramble to become a NATO member because they are afraid of Russia. Russia wants the opportunity to scare Ukraine into doing whatever they want anytime they want. That’s what they’re insisting on. If Ukraine was a member of NATO (which I can’t see happening) then Russia would flex, and Ukraine would yawn.
“Russia wants ‘ironclad’ guarantee that Ukraine will be barred from NATO: official”
Hard to see how that happens, given the West’s record of LYING to the Russians. The Russians may, and likely do, trust Trump - but they know he’ll be gone in a few years and the US can revert back to Neocon rule very easily, thereby NULLIFYING any agreements he might have made.
The best that I can come up with for meeting this demand is a treaty ratified by the US Senate or that the US pulls back to at least Cold War lines, if not completely out of Europe. The treaty option requires 14 Democrat votes (minimum), so that will likely never happen, due to the Democrats being now the Party of War (along with the Zeepers), so it leaves the withdraw option as the only practical possibility.
“NATO doesn’t go around invading and annexing new members.”
No NATO countries just BOMB them, as in Serbia, Libya, etc., or SHOOT leaders we don’t like, as in Slovakia and the US, or PROHIBIT people from even running for office, as in Romania.
After all, we’re talking about ‘Peaceful Democracies’ here. LOL.
Seems understandable.
I would give Russia that.
But you have to ask yourself why they want to keep Ukraine out of NATO. Is it because they just don’t want NATO encroachment, as they say, or is it because they want to invade Ukraine again in the future.
I would give Russia the “ironclad” agreement not to ask Ukraine into NATO, but they would have to understand and agree that it’s also ironclad that Ukraine will be protected with extreme prejudice if Russia ever invades it. That includes even if Russia claims that Ukraine attacked them.
If Russia can’t agree to those conditions, then they are tipping their hand about buying time for future invasions.
“Russia wants ‘ironclad’ guarantee that Ukraine will be barred from NATO: official”
Despite previous “ironclad” agreement to respect Ukraine’s borders if Ukraine gave up nukes, Russian invaded anyway. Russia now demands right to arbitrarily continue invading and dominate Ukraine at will with Russia suffering no consequences..
Is there a town in Ukraine named “Vichy”.
The minerals deal would put many Americans and American interests in Ukraine and the Russian areas near Ukraine. That would serve as a good reason for Russia not to attack.
“...NATO doesn’t go around invading...”
You mean like when they attacked Libya and bombed Serbia. The NATO that is SUPPOSED to be ONLY a defensive alliance. /spit
And Mexico is smart. Mexico never tried to join enemy military pact of USA, such as Soviet block.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump urged Ukraine to “get on the ball and get a job done” as he expressed frustration over Kyiv’s position over peace talks, saying he found it “more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine.”
He said that Russia is “bombing the hell out of” Ukraine but argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “all the cards” when it came to negotiating a peace deal.
The beauty of this is that it is such an easy concession. Were I 47 I’d go one better and say, “How about we end NATO? Would that work? A win for both of us.”
“Hard to see how that happens, given the West’s record of LYING to the Russians.”
Hurrah!
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