US increased military support spending and is about to increase troops stationed in Nato member states, Great Britain and Poland are now increasing military aid and political support by holding smaller summits as well - the Dutch Prime Minister will visit Ukraine tomorrow, and former Prime Minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt, now co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations (thats possible?) is putting out “scare tactics” talkingpoints as well.
You know you have a genuine european effort going, when the US, Great Britain, Poland, and the Co Chair of the ECFR, are putting out the “we stand with Ukraine” rhetoric, and holding speeches at state visits in the Ukraine currently, oh and dont forget the Prime Minister of the Netherlands (It worked! -- on a more serious note:
“The Kingdom of the Netherlands became a founding member of NATO in 1949 and its unabated commitment to the international legal order gave it a much larger role in international affairs than its size would normally justify. It also explains why Dutch leaders let NATO membership, as well as its membership of the European Union and the United Nations, shape a large part of the country’s foreign policy and why Atlanticism formed a cornerstone of its security policy during the entire Cold War period.”
src: click)!
The Ukraine meanwhile, has the best masterplan you could think of in this instance - increase armed forces capacity by 100.000 units within three years.
Wait - within three years? For how long does the coalition of the willing think this conflict should be held active again? Russia basically looses advantage in late february… And from then on their negotiating position gets successively worse.
So in three years from now, when the Ukraine finally has a standing army of 100.000 units more, and an energy dependency of about 70% on russian oil exports… Their economic growth will strengthen, so they can finally aim at political or energy independence? Oh no, I forgot, the US will invest heavily in green energy infrastructure in the Ukraine, and then - they’ll do an infrastructure build up with oil and shalegas shipped in from half around the globe, because “the prospects of building green infrastructure in the Ukraine” are outright rosy - with them now having built up their army significantly, having suffered ocational energy outages and supply shocks (during the transition).
Someone draw me the throughline here again?
Something might be missing from this analysis, like - russian gas on its way to europe goes through which countries (if we presume Nord Stream 2 stays inactive)?
edit: Oh, Brussels (as the home base of NATO) is entirely impartial as well, of course - no conflict of interest whatsoever. (The peace movements, interviewed here, historically are seen as aiding the russian sphere of influence.)
edit2: Short statement by the Ukrainian President: “We are looking forward to taking the Krim back [or other territories?], and that bilateral trade between the UK and Ukraine increased by 60% over the last years is great, and a great success, and we should talk more about free trade [Wait what? So the bilateral trade agreement becomes worth less?]. Dont quote me on that whole complex, because I havent sourced multiple sources, but thats literally what the translator said. (Source is The Telegraph.) Ah - the best of the best as heads of the state again, I see…
Update: El Pais has accessed the some of the US and NATO negotiation documents and is publishing details. Click and click.
edit: The US is currently signaling, that Germany is not dependable. Oh, so sad… did the little trick of “speaking for the whole of europe” Victoria Nuland pulled off not work… *sniff* So sad. Second source: DW as partial as ever.
edit2: Whats this? The Ukraine confirming, that the numbers of russian troups near the border are too small for a full scale invasion - at this point? click How can that be possible? The next step would be them acknowledging, that Kiev is not likely under risk of being taken by a partial invasion. The insanity!
