The Washington Post reported Thursday that US officials at the NATO summit in Vilnius were so angry over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s criticism that they almost scaled back the commitment made to Ukraine in NATO’s communiqué.
As the alliance was working on the wording of its communiqué on Tuesday, Zelensky took to Twitter to air his grievances about Ukraine not getting a formal invitation to join NATO, calling it “unprecedented and absurd.”
The final wording of the communiqué was vague with respect to Ukraine’s future membership, only saying that NATO will “be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree and conditions are met.”
Sources told the Post that the US delegation was “furious” over Zelensky’s tweet. NATO officials held informal talks to decide how to respond to the Ukrainian leader’s criticism. According to European officials, the US wanted to get rid of the line about Ukraine’s future invitation altogether.
But ultimately, the US delegation agreed to stick with the original language. The report said French President Emmanuel Macron pushed to keep the line about Ukraine’s invitation in the communiqué and was backed by central European countries and the Baltic states.
The spat highlighted the divisions within NATO and between the US and Ukraine as the alliance was trying to put on a show of unity. The following day, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that Ukraine should show more gratitude for the tens of billion in military aid it has received from its Western backers.
Then he (Biden) realized that his cut will also be reduced.😁
We are your masters
Show more gratitude
“Come crawling faster
Obey your master
Your life burns faster
Obey your Master
Master”
Reminds me of my electric bug zapper. It’s both soothing and electrifying to hear the zapping sounds of mosquitoes and pests as they fly in and get killed immediately in an efficient and Eco-friendly way. Good times… (Sarcasm alert)
Great tune. Big fan of Metallica.
Zelansky should’ve stayed on that message. Us is the only reason Ukrainians r still dying. Russia started the conflict no doubt but it is the us that is responsible for it’s continuation and loss of more Ukrainian land and it’s bravest men.
Three opportunities for peace trashed by the U.S./U.K. Three!
Wrong. The U.S. started the conflict with the Maidan coup in 2014.
There’s a long way from “almost” to “did” … are we to believe that after grooming this for decades the US would give it up over a pique about language? FFS …
You beat me to it. Almost laughable.
How about grooming it since the end of WWII.
Show. NATO is retreating from Ukraine by for the first time making it clear that Ukraine is not invited to NATO. Moreover, they also worded it in such a way that conditions will be attached even for invitation. NATO is making it clear to Russia that NATO is not at war with Russia, and all oledges to Ukraine will be from now on clearly bilateral, not being coordinated by NATO.
The laying down of rules on Zelenski is part of thhe same game. Zelenski was just his usual obnoxious self — nothing new. The fact that he was smacked down by UK and US is indicative. It seems that alliance is deputizing Germany to do more heavy lifting, and keep Anglosphere a bit in the background.
What will Russia make out of it – will see. They probably have insights on what is happening.
Since counteroffensive has not shown its shape yet, it is not possible to judge if it actually started already or it is already at end. However, freed up from the front snd center position, pushing Germany forward will be interesting. But unless some nasty sabotage occurs — Russia will continue its slow grind.
This is a pount of inflectio . We shall see if Lvov-Zelenski alliance can withstand this shock. For as long as Zelenski.held out a promise that NATO was going to take over the war with Rusdia -/ there was peace in the house. Zelenski has no constituency — he lost what he had. Lvov has much to lose, including a very real threat that Poland may send its troops into West Ukraine as “peacekeepers”. Polish rule Lviv dreads.
NATO apparently decided to appoint guardians to each East European NATO member states. This is a new post-Vilnus humiliating reality, but will insure that those cointries do not do anything rash — and if they are instructed to do something that the order will be carried out. I believe UK has Estonia, Canada Lithuania. US Poland. Do not know others. This indicates a more distributed NATO management, and can lead to problems should any new weaponry is placed in those countries.
Have you read this?
Remilitarized Germany Playing Long Game in Ukraine
https://consortiumnews.com/2023/07/13/remilitarized-germany-playing-long-game-in-ukraine/
I did. I follow all Bhadrakumar’s articles on Indian Punchline.
German remilitarization is a wobbly consensus by two diametrically different visions and interests. One is the Semafor coalition galvanized by super-iseological king-makers Greens. SDP and Liberals are tired and visionless on any issue except marching in lockstep on NATO Russia policy.
They are losing popularity rapidly. Opposed to this are some elements of Conservative parties, and Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Needless to say, AfD is roundly denounced for Nazi tendency, even though one cannot find any evidence of it. They are against rapid immigration that brought hardships to many communities. But AfD now polls ahead of both Greens and Scholz’s SDP.
From the economic angle. Virulent Euroatlanticusm is in sectors such as IT, social media, banking, finance. Dreaded soverenist nationalism resides in all German industrial base,
Loss of Russian energy Atlanticists justify as “getting rid of Russian influence”, while industrialists and large segments of public see it as deliberately destroying German industry and prosperity. AfD is openly against Germany getting involved in Ukraine, against NATO, and for restoring relations with Russia. They feel that UK and US are pushing them into confrontation with Russia, declaring they are right behind. Seen that before. Will Germans be led into stepping in that same rake for the third time?
At the moment both are for German rearmament. For very different reason.
Bhadrakumar’s belief that Getmany is eyeing Western Ukrainian Volnya and Galicia, and would not want tge region to go to Poland. Germany planning armaments factory there.
Reality is nott simple. If anyone deserves independence that would be West Ukraine, with line meandering through Zhitomir and Vinitsia. They have been tossed among many empires. Their delusion with Hitler was at least understandable, as opposed to todays clowns relivingvsimething they could not understand. They would want independence. Russia would happily agree privided no NATO. But US has other plans. US wants Poland to enter as “peacekeepers”, and actually become extension of NATO. If this happens — Russia will have to pull Kuev and what is left of Ukraine under its umbrella.
If West Ukraine remains neutral. Kiev and what is left could be neutral too.
Germany cannot get in there, unless NATO decides to make everyone happy and go for Polish -German “peacekeepers”.
This war is only a beginning of a transformation of Europe. How will it will end — too early to guess.
The latest is — NATO has alpointed minders for East European and Baltic states. I think UK gets Estonia, Canada Lithuania, US Poland. Do not know others. In theory, this is how NATO arms and staffing will be facilitated. In practice, those NATO states will no longer have an independent position in NATO, but be told what to say. They will in tge future also be used as pawns in bigger game, without freedom to decide if this is in their interest.
Interesting
When you creat a proxy, and claim that it is the only thing standing between you and the Big, Bad Wolf, you give that proxy a certain amount of power. Sure, Z and the Ukraine are totally dependent on the USA. But the USA has said, over and over again, that the war in the Ukraine is vital to the USA. That Evil Putin and his terrible country will come next for all of Europe, and then the World, if they are not stopped now. And that Z and his valiant band of Ukies are heroes. It is hard to turn on a dime and say, “Just kidding, in reality Z is puffed-up little piece of nothing, and his whole country doesn’t mean Jack You Know What.”
The tail can wag the dog, to some extent.
In South Vietnam, similar things happened. Sure, the Saigon regime was a puppet. Sure, as it happened, it couldn’t last three years without active, direct US military involvement, even with all the money and guns in the world. Buuut, while it lasted, it was able to sabotage peace plans (along with some help from the Nixon campaign).
Z is playing his part (he is an actor, after all) to the hilt. He is, in reality, a jumped up clown, but he is an effective poseur. He portrays his Pocket Edition Churchill role quite well. And the USA set all that up. Well, when you create a monster, or even just an out of control pet, you have to deal with it. He exasperates even his backers, but, having come this far, there is no easy way of dumping him, or his repulsive regime, or their crummy little war.
“. . . Pocket Edition Churchill . . .”
😎
“He exasperates even his backers, but, having come this far, there is no easy way of dumping him, or his repulsive regime, or their crummy little war.”
I am thinking of the Diem brothers and how easily they were gotten rid of.
Yes, but dumping Diem did not provide an exit from the regime or the war for the USA. And Thieu went on to be as much of a dog-wagging tail, if not more so, than Diem ever was. Also, back in the day, it might have been easier to hide US complicity with assassination than it is now. And I’m not sure that Diem was lauded and praised in quite the same terms, nor to quite the same degree, as Zelensky has been. Zelensky is a “rock star” in many circles.
“Rock star?” or “Rock bottom?”
Very few Americans in 1963 had any idea who Diem was. And even fewer understood the level of US complicity.
Countenancing the assassination was a stunningly stupid move. In no small measure, the ensuing instability helped to turn the tide in favor of the north. Not that the ultimate outcome was ever really in doubt. Catholic, Europeanized minority rule had no chance of surviving US departure. And Ho and Giap always knew that the Americans, like the Japanese and the French, would someday be gone.
If the Yanks deem it necessary Z could have a accident , he won`t be the first or the last the CIA has form for it.
These DC nitwits have no love for Zis man, but arguably hate Russia even more that they are willing to take it in the Keister every time he opens his mouth.
France is coming to rescue of Uki when US is getting upset. Not that long ago,it was France that was pushing back against US-UK’s plans for Uki and Russia. Even England has been lately upset with Uki.
Baltic and
Poland are steadfast to the anti -Russian stance.
Only reason for France to change its position is to remind itself that it was once a power to reckon with and to assure the world that France still conducts business independent of US-US even if that means undercutting its earlier position.
Turkey and Hungary to a similar extent are also behaving same way.
They are still hedging their options and trying to navigate a stalemated ground across a wide political developments from Europe to China and from Russia to Syria . America is the old tired grumpy elephant in that room still casting a shadow which is diminishing in impact.
Not that long ago Russia was actively exactly doing same in number of political theaters.
At the end of the day it comes down to this , if NATO goes to war with Russia Europe will be reduced to ash AGAIN do they really want that ? , in my opinion NO but if they continue to be LACKEYS of the Americans a war with Russia in Europe is INEVITABLE with the Americans making billions of USDs as they did in WW1 / WW2 . while sitting on the beaches , surfing and having a good ole time .
Yea, they considered it for about 5 seconds. The Military Offense Industry isn’t going to let the U.S. stop supporting the war in Ukraine until the country is completely destroyed as they’re already eying up all the money that will be made ‘rebuilding’ the country. But things don’t usually work out as planned, as those unintentional consequences get in the way.