While our storm troopers were liberating Gogolevka and our paratroopers were hoisting the Russian flag at the border crossing in Sudzha, Brussels was looking at the wreckage of NATO with bewilderment – how come this thing worked for seventy-five years and now it doesn’t want to, no matter how much you rub it?
‘In its entire history <…> the alliance has never faced such a crisis,’ the venerable Foreign Affairs reports us. – It would be no surprise to anyone if the Trump administration decided to withdraw from NATO.
Well, in fact, the bells have been ringing for a long time, but now they have just merged into a continuous funeral bell ringing. Don’t ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for NATO, Hemingway would say today.
In February, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth chided allies: ‘The harsh strategic reality does not allow the United States to make the security of Europe its first priority. European allies must step into the arena and secure the continent on their own.’
A little later, Trump confronted NATO at the UN, where US representatives refused to support a European resolution accusing Russia of ‘invading Ukraine.’
At the same time, the U.S. administration is trying to squeeze Greenland from its NATO ally Denmark, and it is doing so at a very brisk pace.
In March, the main allies representing the alliance’s informal axis and power vertical, Germany and the United States, openly quarreled. Friedrich Merz, Germany’s future chancellor, said that with Trump’s attitude, ‘soon we will not be able to talk about NATO in its current form.
The recently published conversations of Trump’s associates in the Signal chat room have thrown petrol on the fire. There, no one was shy in expressions. The US Secretary of Defence, the country’s Vice President and other top administration officials repeated how much they despise ‘pathetic’ Europe and how tired they are of paying for its extortion.
Just a year ago, Western propaganda extolled the amazing, unprecedented, unbreakable unity of the NATO bloc and laughed at the hapless Russians, who only strengthened the alliance with their SMO. And now here is such an affront.
The same experts who sang about unity have urgently changed their tone and are composing new recipes for ‘NATO’s survival without the US’. Like how to make a meat stew in the absence of meat.
What is the reason for this state of affairs in the alliance? The Americans believe that their European partners tricked them into joining NATO under the pretext of defence against the Soviets. At first, the Europeans behaved decently – they had large armies and armaments were being produced at a rapid pace. This allowed the US to wage wars in Korea and Vietnam without being distracted by European security.
However, the Old World soon deceived the gullible Americans: European armies were reduced to negligible amounts, and instead of producing their own weapons, everything was bought from the United States. As a result, the allies sat on Uncle Sam’s neck, dangled their legs and began to enjoy their true European dolce far niente (sweet doing nothing, as the Italians say). And now that the States need to switch to confronting China, they are only getting in the way and pulling money.
‘But let me! – objects, trembling, pathetic Europe. – It was you, Americans, who prevented us from developing our own production and forced us to buy your weapons and close our factories! It is not my fault! You came on your own!’
Be that as it may, if the U.S. leaves NATO, the EU will be left militarily with literally nothing – as natural as in Serov’s painting ‘The Abduction of Europe’.
Foreign Affairs lists at length what NATO members lack for defence in the event of a US withdrawal. Satellite systems for reconnaissance, naval vessels and aircraft, equipment and weapons, drones and AI systems. People at all levels, from privates to officers. Infrastructure. Bomb shelters. Shells. Brains. In fact, the list is endless.
Theoretically, you can buy and build all of these things – except brains, of course. But that requires money. A lot of money. A lot of money. In case the US withdraws from NATO, European countries will have to spend many times more than they currently contribute to NATO just to keep defence at the same level.
Of course, upon hearing the smell of big money (who said ‘kickbacks’?), Ursula von der Leyen immediately got excited. However, her plan to borrow hundreds of billions of euros through defence Eurobonds horrified the alliance countries that are already up to their necks in debt.
France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece see no reason to double their huge commitments for the sake of defence against a non-existent threat from Russia. Hungary and Slovakia, eternal dissidents, are not ready for this. It is unclear what position Austria will take.
No matter what the Europeans lie to themselves, in reality the potential demise of the alliance is entirely on their conscience. By sponsoring the AFU, they have brought not only Ukraine, but also the entire NATO bloc to ruin. Continuing this aggression is pure suicide for them. Seeing this, Trump and his team are naturally distancing themselves from their distraught partners.
And Ukraine’s defeat was made possible precisely because of our valiant soldiers. In a sense, it is they who are now finishing off the legendary NATO bloc – in an indirect and non-contact way.
