It would seem so
Posted on 09/30/2022 8:43:36 AM PDT by Red Badger
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday that his nation has formally submitted an expedited application to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance launched after World War II as a counter against Soviet aggression in Europe. The announcement occurs as the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its seventh month.
“Ukraine was and remains a leader in negotiation efforts. It was our state that always offered Russia to reach an agreement on coexistence on equal, honest, decent and fair terms,” Zelensky said in a video message. “It is obvious that this is impossible with this Russian president. He does not know what dignity and honesty are. Therefore, we are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but already with another president of Russia.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin officially revealed on Friday that he would annex the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine after residents voted to join his nation. The referendum, which local Ukrainian officials said was coerced by Russian soldiers, took place earlier this week, with results in each region appearing to be strikingly lopsided in favor of Russia.
“The Kremlin’s sham referenda are a futile effort to mask what amounts to a further attempt at a land grab in Ukraine,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a Thursday statement. “To be clear: the results were orchestrated in Moscow and do not reflect the will of the people of Ukraine.”
Member states of NATO sent thousands of troops to neighboring eastern European countries in February after Putin ordered the invasion. The United States has sent more than $9.8 billion in civilian and military assistance to Ukraine over the past several months. USAID Administrator Samantha Power remarked earlier this year that as the “assault on Ukraine’s public services continues, the United States is rushing in with financial support to help the government keep the lights on, provide essential services to innocent citizens and pay the health care workers who are providing lifesaving support on the frontlines.”
On Thursday evening, the Senate approved more than $12 billion in additional aid for Ukraine. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives must advance the bill to President Joe Biden by Friday night, which marks the end of the current fiscal year.
Ukraine’s application to join NATO also comes days after the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline system saw “unprecedented” damage. As fuel poured into the Baltic Sea, some European leaders began pointing fingers at Russia, which had severed flow through the pipelines one month earlier, as well as the United States. Germany, the continent’s largest economy, relied upon Russian natural gas for 55% of its imports before the beginning of the conflict.
“The destruction that occurred on the same day simultaneously on three strings of the offshore gas pipelines of the Nord Stream system is unprecedented,” Nord Stream AG, the Russian company that operates the pipelines, said in a statement. “It is not yet possible to estimate the timing of the restoration of the gas transport infrastructure.”
After Russia invaded Ukraine, other European countries — including Sweden and Finland — pursued membership in NATO. The parliament of Slovakia approved the entry of the two Nordic nations into the alliance, becoming one of the last governments to ratify the expansion. Hungary and Turkey have not yet greenlit the move.
I think he went out and bought a copy of “Nuclear War for Dummies” at his local Ukemart.
They could have had that long ago and no war. Minsk Agreement. The Ukrainians signed it, then refused to implement it with our encouragement. So here we are ...
You ever see man on the street interviews with folks about just rudimentary knowledge on geography and politics
Incredibly stupid populace
They could be convinced of anything
Whoever controls the daily info spigot of soundbites they see beyond kardashian YouTube shorts
Zelensky wouldn’t have done this without the US encouraging it. I think the Neocons are worried the EU is going soft and thus they decided to take the Nordstream pipelines out and are now pushing for Ukraine’s ascension into NATO so as to force NATO troops into this war.
Yes
And most people couldn’t even locate Ukraine on a map.
If glad would sign off on that great!! I just gotta break it down to the basics on this... I mean what would we do if Canada signed a military pact with Russia or China? I don’t think we’d be too happy about it!!
“ But the majority do want to support Ukraine in some way.”
You make this a big war, with wmd’s flying around…that “majority” disappears like beach front property in a hurricane.
Vlad*
no we wouldnt be happy, but we wouldnt use it as a pretext for a land grab either.
We've learned in the last six months that Russia is not the power we thought, or they claimed. Yet, they very likely hold a few cards yet to play. Is there any doubt we could beat them in an all-out war? Probably not, but has anyone figured out what the cost of a war with Russia would be? And does anyone really want to pay that price?
Sure go ahead. And we will give nukes to Ukraine.Sounds fair.
Does he also want to buy hurricane insurance for a beach house in Fort Myers?
In 1914 WWI started with each side convinced it would be all over by Christmas.
Well, they were right, Christmas of 1918.
Well I’m no global scholar but I thought the pretext was the increased Western presence and fringe groups aka Nazis that started the saber rattling and then our administration’s running off at the mouth. ??
Europe already Shanghaied the rest of the world into two of their inter-tribal squabbles. Looks like they are prepared to do it again.
Sort of like buying homeowners insurance after your house catches fire.
Russia still wants the rest of the Black Sea coast.
It would seem so
Yes Kazan GUARENTEED it would be so!
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