Colonel-General Ruslan Khomchak, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, is quoted today as boasting that his nation’s military is capable of responding to what he deemed the “aggravation of the situation” in the Donbass, in his words the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk and Lugansk, and “along the entire Ukrainian-Russian border.”
The above regions are only two of five Ukrainian (or former Ukrainian) oblasts bordering Russia. The total land border between Ukraine and Russia as Ukraine computes it is some 1,225 miles; Russia’s border with Donetsk and Lugansk is 255 miles.
The Ukrainian military chief has extended the line of conflict by almost five times. In language evocative of the worst days of the Cold War, Khomchak also intoned: “Ukraine is supported by the entire civilized world. We are not alone in the face of the enemy.”
As a concrete example of what he was alluding to, and in arguably the most inflammatory language used to date in regard to the conflict in the Donbass, the country’s top military commander mentioned NATO’s collective military defense clause:
“We have intensified the military dialogue with NATO at the strategic level and deepened cooperation in the Black Sea region. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are taking part in collective training events for troops [forces], including in NATO exercises on the subject of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.”
At the same time Interfax-Ukraine reported that an American delegation led by the U.S. defense attaché to Ukraine, Colonel Brittany Stewart, paid a working visit to the Joint Forces Operation headquarters. From 2014-2018 known as the Anti-Terrorist Operation, Joint Forces Operation is the name for Ukraine’s war in the Donbass.
The American delegation met with troops assigned to “the contact line with the enemy, talked with Ukrainian defenders and once again made sure [were apprised?] of the presence of Russian mercenaries in Donbas.” It also visited a memorial to Ukrainian soldiers killed in the seven-year war in the Donbass.
Colonel Stewart said at a briefing, “The U.S. government is deeply concerned over the situation that is developing near the borders of Ukraine and in every possible way supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
The U.S. and NATO in every possible way support Kiev’s war near the Russian border.
Rick Rozoff has been involved in anti-war and anti-interventionist work in various capacities for forty years. He lives in Chicago, Illinois. He is the manager of Stop NATO. This originally appeared at Anti-Bellum.
Ukraine is deluded if they believe US/Nato will sacrifice their own men for it
I hope. The people who ran US foreign policy for the last 20 years have been quite willing to sacrifice American and other NATO men and women in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places of Forever War.
Behind the Forever War are obscure motives that seem to include a strong desire to confront Russia whenever and wherever possible.
What the US has done so many times is not very different from what it would do by intervention in Ukraine. It is really very like Syria.
I am sick of all of the organizations like Wounded Warriors, and “thank you for all you do” crap.
If our kids were not over there in the first place, they would not be coming home with broken bodies and broken minds.
I am tired of it!
vip, that is exactly how I feel, they make me sick with their insane commercials for money, while not saying a word about ending future horrors to soldiers bodies!! The GHOULS at work. 🙁
Another potentially lucrative arms market.
Add Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland, the new “cordon sanitaire”.
That is an interesting idea, calling them a new “cordon sanitaire.”
However, the old cordon was used as a buffer zone, not as a front line of confrontation. It was meant to insulate from conflict, not to project conflict.
The difference is defensive use vs offensive use. Those controlling the US are in full aggressive war mode, something we have not seen since Hitler.
AJ,
The people promoting a war over Crimea, love their money, that they might make from the war spending, a helluva lot more than they love the US/NATO troops who may die from it
The Crimea is about rendering Russia vulnerable from the south. It is to take away and use against them their main military, air, and naval bases (for 200 years, not just recently).
It is also blocking their entire internal system of water transport, all their main river equivalents of the Mississippi system, something the US saw as its own vital interest since the early 19th Century.
It is a strategic offensive move of the most fundamental sort, compared to which the Cuban Missile Crisis was nothing.
Mark Thomason;
You’ve explained quite well why Crimea is important to Russia – please explain why the hell, Crimea is important to the USA. Seems to me that we are crossing a busy street just to mind someone else’s business. The only reason that I can think of is that war brings money to some people – people that I don’t think much of.
Do not worry. We will send only taxpayer’s money or arms or both to Ukraine. That has already begun.
“The U.S. and NATO in every possible way support Kiev’s war near the Russian border.”
This is the last line in this article,where is the source?
Its actually quite stupid.
I thought that was obvious from NATO and US rhetoric. “Unwavering” really has only one meaning.
Yes, as in, “Let’s you & him go fight.”
Vlad should nuke them fid God sick.
Leave the Russian speaking in Eastern Ukraine alone.
If Ukraine is not careful, they’ll get themselves in a Georgia situation where they thought we had their back and attacked their breakaway Russian enclave and got pantsed heavily.
If Russia wants to, they can roll through Ukraine in about a month. What happens after is the only thing giving them pause.
Georgia picked that fight. Turned out well, didn’t it?
I can tell you exactly what will happen. Putin will throw away the victory, recalling the Russian armies from the threshold of Kiev the same way he recalled them from the threshold of Tbilisi. Russia will withdraw back to the present front line and recognize the independence of a diminished Donbass microstate.
The only practical result will be to cement NATO’s conquest of almost the entire Ukraine. This latter-day Brest-Litovsk will be trumpeted by Putin as a triumph for Russia, while the US and EU will accuse the Russians of being the aggressors and use it as a pretext for even more hostility (no more Nord Stream pipeline).
It’s all perfectly, depressingly predictable. They have no fear of prodding the Russian bear because as long as Putin remains in power the bear will remain muzzled.
There is no “victory” for Russia to be gained from attempting to rule non-Russian lands. Far too costly in men and materials and pointless besides. The era of old fashioned empires is over.
Putin has played a clever game with a weak hand over the past 20 years. We’re talking about a huge rapidly aging country with an economy the size of Italy. If he can save the Black Sea fleet port in Crimea and the Russian portions of Ukraine wo resorting to nukes and wo blowing up his relationship with Germany and France, that would be an incredible accomplishment.
1. The Ukraine ***IS*** Russian land, inhabited by Russian people. Kiev was once the capital of Russia. Ukrainians are Russians.
2. Putin has played a stupid game with a strong hand (though it would be far stronger under the leadership of a real patriot who would have strenghtened the country instead of robbing it). With a huge white population and plenty of resources, Russia should naturally be the richest and most powerful country on Earth. As things are, the “Italy” comparison is asinine nonsense, that’s a matter of financial markets and does not represent real economic output.
A huge “white” population, eh? Boy, are you going to be unhappy in the coming century of Chinese and general Asian primacy …
As for Ukraine, it seems they mostly feel different from your views, though the east and Crimea are primarily Russian.
Dementia Joe is serious about this – he’ll fight to the last Ukrainian if necessary.
When the term “civilized world” is used … countries that do nothing but overthrow governments and nuke other countries (Yemen, Iraq, Syria) while acting vindictive, is not that civilized
cmn the headline is misleading as hell. u guys do realize ppl who come here r already committed viewer of this site and this irritates ppl at least it irritates me i mean i thought it’s the collective defense clause
re: Ukraine’s Top Commander Invokes NATO’s Article 5 Military Assistance Clause
Ukraine is not a NATO member and thus it cannot invoke Article 5.
Don Bacon,
Most of us know that – and so do the smart folks in our State Dept – but since when has knowledge of the truth ever hobbled a good liar?
Yes, and gaining new membership in NATO has in the past always been conditioned on not bringing in such new, large, unsettled conflicts. It has been to avoid dragging NATO into current active fighting.
While president Zelensky is pulling back — promised no war. Denying that Ukraine wants to go to war over Donbas. Need to settle the problem peacefully, etc. etc.
It looks that America wants war. The whole civilized world knows that Russia is not interested in war. Who exactly wants the war?
This mind numbing stupidity has to stop before WW3 breaks out. Go home yanks.
The question is why do so many countries invite the americans to put up military bases in said countries , the majority of people don`t want them so i can only assume politicians are being paid to agree to US bases.
Ukraine will probably make the same mistake as the Georgians did .
It wouldn’t be a mistake. As I have explained in the other comment, Putin’s response is known and accounted for from the start. What they accomplish: suppression of the opposition party, strengthening of Zelensky regime, excuse for Germans to shut down Nordstream. What Russia gains: nothing (traitor rat Putin will make sure of that.)
Nothing new or unexpected. This is what all of our proxies do to get more money or arms or both from us.
Obviously, nobody is interested in a suicide mission on Russia’s borders, nobody is prepared to die and start WW3 for a crackpot Nazi putsch junta in a sh*thole country that never was a country (the ukraine i.e “borderlands” i.e bufferzone) Americans never have heard of. However, issue threats from a very safe distance and send one or two warships that immediately get EW:ed and neutralized by Russia in her own bathtub (prepare the lavatories “boys” it’s gonna be a tough ride), is s another matter all together. What’s important here is that while the non- agreement- capable American infighting fascist regime is run by a vegetable in-chief and his ziocon handlers, negotiations ARE going on between the chief of the General staff Valery “stoneface” Gerasimov of Russian armed forces and his US counterpart. These people know their capabilities and the US part knows perfectly well that Russia can and will take out US and NATO forces combined within minutes, conventionally, (and obviously nuclear) if need to. Especially near Russia’s borders. That’s what Russia’s defences are build for.
Who is “nobody.”
Who would do the dying?
Anybody involved in a US plus NATO “drang nach osten” against Russia including and especially transgender soldiers.
Thanks for your entry in Dumbest Thing Tom Knapp Will Read This Week.
Stay the hell out of this mess!!!
This war has nothing to do with Ukrainian “sovereignty”. It all about North Strem 2.
If NS2 becomes operational Germany and EU economies will be tied to Russian gas and US can’t have that.
Ukraine won’t last 3 days against a Russian frontal attack.