by Riccardo Cacelli
London – With a clear mind, let’s analyze together some statements by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the responses given during the press conference on the occasion of the NATO meeting yesterday in Vilnius.
Stoltenberg said:
“NATO allies have provided tens of billions of dollars in support over the past year. And now we have agreed on a three-part package that brings Ukraine closer to NATO. A multi-year program of practical assistance establishing a new NATO-Ukraine council and reaffirming that Ukraine will become a member of NATO and eliminating the Membership Action Plan requirement.“
Zelensky: “We clearly understand that partners are helping us with weapons and this is a moment of survival. This is something we need. We understand that someone is afraid to talk about our accession now, because no one is willing to wage a world war, which is logical and understandable. I want everyone to understand that we are civilized and adequate people. Ukraine is fighting and truly understands that Ukraine cannot be a NATO member nation as long as the war continues on our territory. This is absolutely clear.“
Stoltenberg: “There is a real war going on in Europe, and there is no risk-free option, nor for the NATO allies. But the greatest risk is if President Putin wins. Because then the message is that when he uses military force, when he violates international law, when he invades a neighbor, he gets what he wants. And that is precisely why it is so important for NATO allies to support Ukraine. Because it will be a tragedy for Ukraine if President Putin wins, but it will be dangerous for us. It will make us more vulnerable. And that’s also why we were very clear about the following: that Ukraine, of course, has the right to choose its own path and what kind of security arrangements it wants to be a part of. This is the first line of the paragraph agreed today on Ukraine’s accession and the path forward. And this is a fundamental right for every nation. And so we can never let Moscow start deciding who can or can’t be a member of NATO. Russia has been against all NATO enlargements. It is up to NATO allies and Ukraine to decide when to become members. Moscow has no veto on this. So we are bringing Ukraine closer to membership. Let’s take all the decisions today which is the strongest and most united message on the path to membership that NATO has ever sent to Ukraine.“
These replies show that peace negotiations are a long way off and we are living, as history shows, in a period of war that is very dangerous both for Europe and for the whole world.
For the uninitiated, I recall that NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization – Organization du traité de l’Atlantique nord, OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, was set up in the aftermath of the Second World War to defend itself against of the Warsaw Pact.
Today there are no longer the conditions of then.
The Warsaw Pact no longer existed for 30 years. It dissolved.
Perhaps NATO is preparing to defend itself against the BRICS countries or the SCO member countries?
Perhaps it defends the dollar from the increasingly widespread dedollarization?
I’m convinced that in NATO programs this is precisely the goal and purpose of aid to Ukraine.
Russia, according to Stoltenberg, must not win.
And NATO will do everything to not allow it.
So, in light of all this, military escalation is safe. To what extent is not legitimate to know.
But trying to understand Russian thought which today, after the words and deeds of NATO, is aimed exclusively at the defense of its territories and existential integrity, I intervene by affirming, hoping to be denied, that the winds of world/nuclear war are, for some days, more intense.
I conclude by offering you a quote from Georges Benjamin Clemenceau: “It is easier to make war than peace”.
Riccardo Cacelli
r.cacelli@cacelli.com