Posted on 01/07/2022 12:49:43 PM PST by RomanSoldier19
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and NATO on Friday roundly rejected Russian demands that the alliance not admit new members amid growing concerns that Russia may invade Ukraine, which aspires to join the alliance.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia would have no say over who should be allowed to join the bloc. And, they warned Russia of a “forceful” response to any further military intervention in Ukraine.
Their comments amounted to a complete dismissal of a key part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands for easing tensions with Ukraine. Putin wants NATO to halt membership plans for all countries, including Ukraine. The former Soviet republic is unlikely to join the alliance in the foreseeable future, but NATO nations won’t rule it out.
Blinken and Stoltenberg spoke separately following an extraordinary virtual meeting of NATO foreign ministers. The meeting of the North Atlantic Council was the first in a series of high-level talks over the next week aimed at easing the tensions.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
We should have disbanded NATO after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and dissolution of the USSR. Europe takes advantage of US and then crows about how superior they are.
“Maybe Chinese territorial ambitions should be of bigger concern right now.”
If Beijing’s Taiwan gambit goes south on them and Russia gets bogged down in a war of attrition in Ukraine (west of the Dneiper) then don’t be too surprised if China rolls in to Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District knowing full well that no one in the West will lift a finger to help Russia.
Seriously, Siberia is the better play for China than Taiwan is and I’m sure someone in the PLA has plans ready for the operation.
I’m not a big fan of moving NATO up to Russia’s border. Still
those nations do have a fear of Russian aggression.
I was about to compare it to the U. S., but then we did pull
a blunder in Cuba.
It’s unfortunate some nations have to live on Russia’s
doorstep.
“NATO’s charter states “An attack on one is an attack on all” and requires members to come to the aid of he member attacked. I understand all the rhetoric about “controlling russian expansion, etc.”, but I’m not sure I’m willing to support shedding American blood to defend some east european tin-horn dictator.”
The Legislative and Executive branches of our government will still have to “do their paper work,” regardless of some scrub country in NATO “getting attacked.” International treaties are ambiguous but the US Constitution isn’t.
The United States doesn’t owe any country a security guarantee.
“It’s unfortunate some nations have to live on Russia’s
doorstep.”
It wouldn’t be a problem if Russia was not so bellicose. Russia is a bully — which is a common trait of insecurity. Therein lies the danger.
Moldova used to be part of Romania, not Ukraine. Unless you maybe mean the Transdinester (sic?) religion, and even then it was originally part of the Romanian region of Bessarabia.
Romania ceded Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the USSR in 1940. Moldova declared independence from the USSR/CIS/Russia in 1991. Romania was in fact the very first nation to recognize Moldova as an independent nation and Romania was also the first to establish full diplomatic relations with Moldova.
In any case, at the time of Moldovan independence it had been part of the USSR and not Romania.
“Russia wants to bar Finland and Sweden from NATO membership. You saying they’re dictatorships? If so you’re dreadfully uninformed.”
Actually, the people of Finland & Sweden don’t want NATO membership.
So the Russian boogie man doesn’t have to do anything.
Members of Free Republic should be very wary of Freepers who only post about foreign issues.
Nato was formed to protect against communist expansion back when russia was part of the soviet union. Russia is no longer a communist country and so far as I can tell it’s agressive actions in georgia and ukraine were in defense of ethnic russians. Russia doesn’t need more land, they have plenty. They have plenty of mineral resources as well. They are very sensitive to the threat of invasion after being invaded several times in the past. Losing 20 million or so citizens dead from foreign invaders will leave a lasting impression. The great grandparents of the neocons were treated badly by the tsar, but they need to let it go.
Their no vital or even significant US interest involved. This is further evidence of the disconnection of the elites and the base in the US. The real issue is that NATo needs to be restructuring into purely European organization or better simply dismantled so the various state actors can operate according to their individual interests.
Someone once summed up the Cold War with the quote :”Turns out the problem wasn’t that the Russians were communist, but that the communists were Russian”
“Actually, the people of Finland & Sweden don’t want NATO membership.”
Irrelevant. The people of Finland and Sweden will determine whether or not they apply for membership in NATO and not some bunch of oligarch thugs from Moscow.
“Members of Free Republic should be very wary of Freepers who only post about foreign issues.”
Feel free to report me to the administrators if you have a problem with me.
“Irrelevant. The people of Finland and Sweden will determine whether or not they apply for membership in NATO and not some bunch of oligarch thugs from Moscow.”
NATO has been around since 1949, the Swedes & Finns have had plenty of time to join. Looks like they’re aren’t in a hurry.
“Feel free to report me to the administrators if you have a problem with me.”
I don’t have a problem with you, nor will I ever report anybody to an “administrator.”
I’m not a snitch.
Russia has some kind of alliances with Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela in this hemisphere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba%E2%80%93Russia_relations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua%E2%80%93Russia_relations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Venezuela_relations
If Russia wants to BARGAIN for neutralizing countries on ITS borders, it should expect some give and take. But, no, Russia makes demands.
As for the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, we know a lot more about this today than we did in real time.
In real time, we (the American public) were told the missiles were NOT armed. We now know they were.
Furthermore, we now know that Castro asked Khruschev to launch the missiles. While Castro anticipated that his island country would be completely destroyed, he thought communism would win a decisive victory over the democratic west. Khruschev said to himself that Castro guy is crazy, and proceeded to remove the missiles from the island, trusting that Kennedy would reciprocate in some way (which turned out to be removal of missiles from Turkey).
Our tacit agreement with Russia is to not move offensive weapons into eastern Europe, whether the countries involved are part of NATO (e.g., Latvia) and not (e.g., Ukraine). Russia, in reciprocity, does not place missiles into eastern Europe either. However, Russia is now threatening to do so.
This guy Putin is playing some kind of game. Maybe his bellicose posturing is for domestic consumption. But, maybe the guy is looking to restore the Czarist/Soviet Empire. And, maybe it’s not particularly Putin. Maybe, this is what Russia does, whether Lenin and Stalin invading every country bordering on Russia during the 1920s and ‘30s, or the Tsars doing the same thing during the expansion of Russia in the centuries prior to Russia’s defeats first at the hands of the Japanese prior to WWI, and then at the hands of Germany during WWI.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_evolution_of_Russia
Russia’s toady Armenia got its ass kicked in a war with Azerbaijan recently.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Nagorno-Karabakh_war
Belarus, a dictatorship, might yet see a pro-west movement take power. I’m not saying “will,” only “might.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarusian_opposition
Even within Russian, in the 2021 elections, a center-left and a center-right party got enough votes to enter parliament. Putin’s party remains the largest single party, and it is a “big tent” party with many democratic and reformist members. We will see how this plays out in future elections.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Russian_legislative_election
Bottom line is that there is a lot to hope for in the continuing reconstruction of Russia and eastern Europe. We should have some confidence that, with unity and diplomacy backed up by the enormous economic and military power of NATO, the democracies and Russia can work through sensitive issues as they emerge.
“NATO has been around since 1949, the Swedes & Finns have had plenty of time to join. Looks like they’re aren’t in a hurry.”
Yeah. Finland is buying $14bn worth of F-35 fighters, armaments, and ground support tech and training that will be compatible with USAF tankers, armaments, and ground support.
This matters because the Finns will be able to use American support for their fighters and NATO will be able to use Finnish bases for operations on short notice. They’re moving towards NATO membership and Moscow knows it.
https://theaviationist.com/2021/12/06/f-35-finland/
As far as Sweden is concerned it would appear that Moscow’s demand that Sweden not join NATO is having quite the opposite effect and the Swedish government is now considering NATO membership more than ever.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/01/07/swedish-foreign-minister-ann-linde-nato-finland-russia/
Thanks for the information.
Let me know when they actually join NATO.
Better idea: We leave NATO, and let Europe defend Europe.
“Team America, Wolrd Police!” has failed miserably. And we’re propping up socialism in EU, which can’t afford both a military and welfare. So they cover welfare, and we cover for their minimalist military.
Insanity.
>> Better to stop the Russians in Ukraine than to have to oust them from
>> Europe again.
Oh please, not the ridiculous domino theory crap again.
Russia is not the USSR. It is not exporting Communist ideology around the world anymore. And it’s not trying to rebuild the Warsaw Pact.
I highly doubt they have designs for Europe either.
Should have listened to George Kennan who at the end of the Cold War warned that a colossal mistake was being made by expanding NATO eastward and not engaging Russia.
>> Better to stop the Russians in Ukraine than to have to oust them from
>> Europe again.
Oh please, not the ridiculous domino theory crap again.
Russia is not the USSR. It is not exporting Communist ideology around the world anymore. And it’s not trying to rebuild the Warsaw Pact.
I highly doubt they have designs for Europe either.
Should have listened to George Kennan who at the end of the Cold War warned that a colossal mistake was being made by expanding NATO eastward and not engaging Russia.
>>Good. Piss on Putin and piss on Russia for thinking they get to say who can and cannot join NATO or any other alliance.<<
This is a European issue, not an American issue. Would we be ok if Russia armed the crap out of Mexico and placed troops and missiles along the Southern border?
I’m thinking we’d be reacting just like ol Vlad.
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