Despite the “aggressive rhetoric” of Russia, there are no direct military threats to the security of Latvia today. This was stated by the Minister of Defense of the Baltic Republic Artis Pabriks
In addition, he ruled out the possibility of sending Latvian military personnel to Ukraine: in the event of “Russian aggression” Riga itself will wait for American reinforcements. But no NATO soldier will fight for a country that is not a member of the Alliance.
Strange as it may seem, the news about a possible invasion of Russian troops into the territory of Ukraine evokes a particularly sharp reaction in the Baltics. Local politicians are trying with all their might to show that they are ready to almost independently jump into the trenches to the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On December 21, the Ministers of Defense of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – Kalle Laanet, Artis Pabriks and Arvydas Anushauskas – met in Kaunas to “synchronize watches” in the event of another “Russian aggression”. Here they warned Putin against escalation, announcing their intention to “participate in the development of a joint regional multiple launch rocket system.”
“We unwaveringly support the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine and call on the Russian Federation to end military support for the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and the occupation of Crimea. It is necessary to put an end to the constant attempts of the Putin regime to destabilize security in Europe and the rest of the world by subjugating sovereign states”, said the head of the Estonian Defense Ministry.
Two days earlier, Anushauskas announced his readiness to support Ukraine with the supply of lethal weapons.
Which one is not yet clear.
“This is a matter of a multilateral agreement, since several countries are involved, not only the giving and receiving countries, but also the manufacturer and the supplier,” said Anushauskas.
Latvia is ready to do the same: Pabriks has promised that, if necessary, Ukraine will receive both weapons and non-military goods. As they say, everything is for the front, everything is for victory!
But the most important thing was stated by the Latvian Defense Minister after the meeting in Kaunas. Speaking on television, he suddenly doubted the existence of a direct military threat to the Baltic states.
According to him, even if an escalation occurs on the Russian-Ukrainian border, Latvia will remain safe. When asked whether Riga is ready to send its military personnel to Ukraine, Pabriks answered negatively – the Ministry of Defense is not considering such a scenario. In the event of a “big war” the Balts themselves will wait for reinforcements from NATO.
In general terms, Pabriks repeated everything that the leaders of the leading Western countries say about the “pacification” of Russia. Not so long ago, the representative of the coalition Free Democratic Party (FDP) of Germany, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, announced her reluctance to send German soldiers to the territory of Ukraine: they say, there are other ways to show Moscow that it should stop rattling.
“Hostile actions by Russia will have enormous economic and diplomatic consequences,” warns German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock.
Not a word about the military consequences.
The head of the British Ministry of Defense, Ben Wallace, took over the baton. In an interview with Spectator magazine, he said that London refuses to send its military to help Ukraine in the event of “Russian aggression.”
“It is a fact that Ukraine is not a NATO member, so it is unlikely that anyone is going to send troops to Ukraine to challenge Russia. We shouldn’t cheat people”, Wallace admits.
Ukraine sent a specific request for military assistance to Canada. The result is zero.
“On December 6, Chief of the General Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces Wayne Airey said that Ukraine needed to act with caution and diplomacy, and an increase in the number of troops in the country would irritate Russia. Thus, he responded to the request of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andrei Reznikov, who offered to send 500 military instructors from Canada to the country”, reports The News Glory.
If we talk about the United States, then Joe Biden personally dotted the i’s. During a recent briefing, he was asked if he gave up on the idea of sending troops to Ukraine.
“There have never been such plans,” the US president replied. “Are you ready to send American troops to war in Ukraine to fight Russia in their field?”
Apparently, Biden himself did not notice how he outlined the zone of natural political interests of the Russian Federation. His speechwriters would never have made such an oversight.
But the owner of the White House answered, as they say, not according to what was written.
Therefore, Ukraine has turned from an independent state and an important ally into “their field”.
Then Biden answered in detail what his strategy is: “I made it clear to President Putin, this is the last thing I told him: if he moves to Ukraine, the economic consequences will be devastating. Destructive! This is the first thing. Second, we will find it necessary to send more US and NATO troops to the eastern flank. Bucharest Nine, NATO countries to whom we have a sacred obligation to defend them against any attack. And, thirdly, the influence of all this on Russia and the attitude of the world towards it will change significantly. The price to be paid is terrible. We will continue to provide assistance to Ukraine to maintain its defense capabilities.
The bottom line is that the Americans are not going to fight for Ukraine, even if Putin unleashes all the might of the Russian army on it.
The scenario will be the same as after the events of 2014: sanctions and only sanctions.
Perhaps the United States will even be able to stop Nord Stream-2. And then Europe will receive more gas through the Ukrainian GTS, which will be taken under control by the “little green men”.
The Baltic republics had a unique opportunity to teach the United States and Europe a lesson in solidarity with Ukraine.
But even they do not think about sending their servicemen “to war with Russia.”
Pabriks and the company are ready to “fight” exclusively at meetings with allies and on TV broadcasts.
Alexey Ilyashevich, Rubaltic.Ru