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That time Ukraine tried to join NATO — and NATO said no
Washington Post ^ | September 4 at 3:37 PM | http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/adam-taylor

Posted on 09/04/2014 5:10:11 PM PDT by FreeReign

...During NATO's 2008 summit in Bucharest, Romania, the issue was discussed and, after opposition from France and Germany, a decision was made to offer neither Ukraine nor Georgia a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) — essentially a path for Ukraine to receive membership — at that moment. Vague promises of NATO membership in the future were made, but the United States later appeared to drop its support for NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia. Russia's brief war with Georgia in August 2008 helped underscore the decision's importance, but NATO and Ukraine held further talks in December. Again, however, no specific MAP was announced.

Yushchenko seemed despondent after the Bucharest summit. "I am sure that the ball is not on the Ukrainian side of the field, Ukraine has done everything it had to do," the Ukrainian president told the Times of London in November 2008. "We are devoted to this pace. Everything else is an issue of political will of those allies who represent NATO."

Ukraine's hopes of joining NATO finally ended in 2010, when Yushchenko lost the presidential election to Viktor Yanukovych, the man he had helped oust during the Orange Revolution and the man forced out by protests earlier this year...

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Germany; Russia
KEYWORDS: 2008; 200811; 2008election; 2010; 201409; bucharest; crimea; donetsk; eu; europeanunion; france; germany; nato; putinsbuttboys; republicofgeorgia; romania; russia; russianadventurism; ukraine; ukrainenato; vladtheimploder; yanukovych; yushchenko
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1 posted on 09/04/2014 5:10:11 PM PDT by FreeReign
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To: FreeReign

NATO is a joke and Putin knows it.


2 posted on 09/04/2014 5:13:27 PM PDT by Bubba_Leroy (The Obamanation Continues)
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To: FreeReign

And NATO still says no, as they don’t want to get into a war with Russia.

Uhmmmm....WTF is NATO for, if not to protect its interests?

Pussies....


3 posted on 09/04/2014 5:17:53 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: Bubba_Leroy
NATO is a joke and Putin knows it.

That's just an opinion at this point in time. Putin has yet to cross the line.

4 posted on 09/04/2014 5:18:59 PM PDT by FreeReign
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To: Bubba_Leroy

The article is about Ukraine not being a member of NATO, do you think that Putin thinks that he could defeat NATO?


5 posted on 09/04/2014 5:19:08 PM PDT by ansel12 (LEGAL immigrants, 30 million 1980-2012, continues to remake the nation's electorate for democrats)
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To: Vendome
And NATO still says no, as they don’t want to get into a war with Russia. Uhmmmm....WTF is NATO for, if not to protect its interests? Pussies....

We have Putinistas here who claim that NATO is scheming to expand into Ukraine.

6 posted on 09/04/2014 5:23:54 PM PDT by FreeReign
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To: FreeReign

Europe pretty much did the same thing to Turkey and now they too are moving into the problem column.


7 posted on 09/04/2014 5:24:33 PM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: ansel12
The article is about Ukraine not being a member of NATO, do you think that Putin thinks that he could defeat NATO?

In think that Putin knows that NATO is not going to war over Russia invading Ukraine or any of the other former Soviet territories. Hell, I don't think that NATO would even go to war if Russia invaded Poland.

8 posted on 09/04/2014 5:30:34 PM PDT by Bubba_Leroy (The Obamanation Continues)
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To: Vendome
Pussies....

Eloquently and succinctly stated.

9 posted on 09/04/2014 5:32:08 PM PDT by Bubba_Leroy (The Obamanation Continues)
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To: Bubba_Leroy

Let’s hope that America has not surrendered to Putin already.


10 posted on 09/04/2014 5:34:36 PM PDT by ansel12 (LEGAL immigrants, 30 million 1980-2012, continues to remake the nation's electorate for democrats)
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To: ansel12
If Putin gets completely out of control, Obama may threaten to cancel Putin's Netflix account.

He won't actually do it, because that would be going too far. But he may threaten to do it.

11 posted on 09/04/2014 5:45:23 PM PDT by Bubba_Leroy (The Obamanation Continues)
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To: FreeReign
As one who lives in Germany, I confess to a degree of schadenfreude on observing moments of apprehension among my German neighbors over Ivan. Just yesterday a Ukrainian refugee of our acquaintance came to our door and was terribly apprehensive about the future of her country to which she is terrified to return. She concedes the Crimea is lost and questions whether the eastern provinces will also go. She is certainly concerned for the Western part of Ukraine.

If Obama's fecklessness has done anything good it has been to begin to alert Europeans to the need to see to their own defense. They are clearly a day late and a dollar short but the direction at least has changed.

The downside of NATO for the United States is much like our commitments to countries like Korea and to some degree Israel, they commit us to making wars on behalf of smaller countries which might lead to nuclear conflagration, would certainly cost us a fortune in dollars, and might well generate considerable casualties with uncertain chances of victory. In effect, we give away power over our foreign policy and even mortgage our right to make or to refrain from making war.

It is a very dangerous policy in the nuclear age to make the United States hostage or a tripwire to deter tyrants. We should identify core national strategic interests and make firm alliances with those nations, like Great Britain, who are pivotal to our survival.


12 posted on 09/04/2014 5:47:30 PM PDT by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat, attack!" Bull Halsey)
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To: Bubba_Leroy

It may amuse you, but it isn’t amusing, Putin is rebuilding an enemy empire.


13 posted on 09/04/2014 5:50:46 PM PDT by ansel12 (LEGAL immigrants, 30 million 1980-2012, continues to remake the nation's electorate for democrats)
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To: Bubba_Leroy

I suspect Obama would declare war on Russia if he could arm other people to do the fighting. He does seem to like having the power to create chaos. I would think at least some leaders in Europe might come to their senses and work for stability with Russia.


14 posted on 09/04/2014 5:53:26 PM PDT by grania
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To: FreeReign

Hey, I dig Putin in some ways, as my imaginary friend but, NATO should have included former USSR satellite states to blunt any ambitions from a future agressor.


15 posted on 09/04/2014 5:59:04 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: FreeReign

When you consider that the socialist EU and the US seem to be willing to capitulate entirely to Islam, and also consider that Putin is at least somewhat willing to deal with Russia’s Muslim problem (although, unfortunately, not on the level of Stalin), it may just be in the Crimea’s interests to ally with Russia over the EU. NATO seems to be more than willing to help out Islam spread across the world like the cancer it is.


16 posted on 09/04/2014 6:00:20 PM PDT by Objective Scrutator (All liberals are criminals, and all criminals are liberals)
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To: grania
I suspect Obama would declare war on Russia if he could arm other people to do the fighting.

Guess again.

Ukraine asked for weapons and Obama said no.

17 posted on 09/04/2014 6:01:28 PM PDT by FreeReign
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To: ansel12
It may amuse you, but it isn’t amusing, Putin is rebuilding an enemy empire.

I do not find it at all amusing. If I don't try to laugh I will have an irresistible urge to hide under a desk in fetal position like I was taught in the "duck and cover" nuclear war drills in elementary school (yeah, I am that old).

The world is going to hell and Obama is leading the charge.

18 posted on 09/04/2014 6:02:04 PM PDT by Bubba_Leroy (The Obamanation Continues)
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To: FreeReign

Yet to cross that line, really?

We know how Obama handles red lines.


19 posted on 09/04/2014 6:04:33 PM PDT by Jim from C-Town (The government is rarely benevolent, often malevolent and never benign!)
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To: Jim from C-Town
Yet to cross that line, really?

Putin invaded a NATO country? Really?

20 posted on 09/04/2014 6:08:44 PM PDT by FreeReign
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