An emergency NATO summit on the situation in Ukraine was held in Belgium. It took place on the 23rd anniversary of the start of the bombing of Yugoslavia – which looks particularly symbolic when the US is trying to portray the Ukrainian crisis as Europe’s “first war after the Second World War” – remarkably forgetting the Balkan wars in which they themselves were actively involved
No decision has been taken to send a “NATO peacekeeping force” to Ukraine, as Poland has proposed. The pleas of the Ukrainian side to provide air defence systems and tanks to Kiev – for fear of a direct clash between Russia and NATO – were also ignored.
After all, the introduction of Polish soldiers into western Ukraine threatens to spill over into the territory of Poland itself. NATO members are obliged to defend it – if they have the strength and political will. Although the U.S. military contingent in Europe exceeds 100 thousand, it is “spread over” 27 countries – and there are only a few thousand U.S. soldiers in the east, providing only symbolic “cover” for Poland, Romania and the Baltics.
Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have announced the strengthening of local troop formations. Brussels has acknowledged that the problems for the US and European economies due to the sanctions wars will grow. Russia was proposed to be excluded from the G-20. And Biden separately stressed that it was up to Ukraine to decide which territorial concessions to make in order to save its statehood.
No one is in a hurry to consider Ukraine’s NATO membership bid either. All that the Ukrainian side has managed to get lately are old Soviet “Osa” systems, which by chance were found in the American stash. The supply of rocket launchers also continues – although many countries like Canada have already openly declared that their stockpiles have been exhausted.
Biden’s visit to Europe – despite the excitement – predictably ended with nothing. There were no scandals – as with Kamala Harris laughing at a press conference about refugees – and no decisions in principle. The summit clearly demonstrated the erosion of the NATO institution, which in the context of the worst crisis in its history is unable even to develop a coherent strategy on how to respond to it.
Malek Dudakov