Tag: Jens Stoltenberg

From Jordan to Japan: US invites 14 non-NATO nations to Ukraine defense summit

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

From Jordan to Japan: US invites 14 non-NATO nations to Ukraine defense summit

Interestingly, the inclusion of Kenya, Liberia, Morocco and Tunisia may be less about Russia and more about combating China’s growing influence on the continent, said Elizabeth Shackelford, a former State Department official who served in several East African countries.

“China has been a strategic partner to both Kenya and Liberia, but the US still holds greater sway in each. Kenya is an influential country on the continent, so getting it on board with the west is important,” said Shackelford, now with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

“Inviting these countries to this meeting signals that their position on [Ukraine] matters, to the US and to the broader coalition,” including host Germany, a major economic power, she added. “This is a level of engagement that China’s transactional relationship doesn’t offer. Don’t forget, it’s an election year in Kenya. International engagement on major global issues at the invitation of the US is a good look.”

All of the African countries are part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Nuclear Risks Rise as Russia and the West Prepare for Protracted Conflict

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Nuclear Risks Rise as Russia and the West Prepare for Protracted Conflict

As Russia prepares for a new offensive in the eastern Donbass region, the West is doubling down on what has been an unprecedented program of military aid to Ukraine. Washington is not just giving Ukraine weapons but telling it where to point them. According to recent reporting, the Biden administration has significantly loosened internal guidelines with the aim of allowing the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence services to share real-time targeting information with the Ukrainian military. The Biden administration is still reportedly reluctant to provide Ukraine’s armed forces with targeting information against Russian forces in Russia. But with mounting pressure from Republicans and Democrats who argue that the United States is not doing enough to support the Ukrainian war effort, it appears to be only a matter of time until that line is crossed as well.

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A majority coalition of Western governments appears to be working not to facilitate a negotiated settlement to end the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Ukraine, but to draw the Kremlin into a years-long quagmire that would make the Afghan mujahideen pale by comparison.

Kiev is being encouraged by its Western benefactors not to consider pragmatic, creative solutions aimed at swiftly ending the bloodshed, but to pursue a maximalist agenda on the battlefield and the negotiating table. Some congressional Republicans are pressuring the Biden administration to facilitate Ukrainian counter-offensives to retake all territories occupied by Russia, including Crimea and the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DNR and LPR). As the fighting shifts eastward, calls to help Ukraine take the fight to Russia will likely grow louder. The intention among many Western lawmakers is to back Moscow into a corner; but what might happen if they succeed?

There is no indication that the Kremlin, which is convinced its existential interests are at stake in the ongoing conflict, has any intention of backing off in the face of the West’s maximum pressure campaign. To the contrary, all current signs point to further escalation. CIA director William Burns warned on Thursday that if Russia proves unable to reverse its military setbacks in Ukraine through conventional means, Moscow could eventually make the decision to employ low-yield tactical nuclear weapons. As hopes for a diplomatic off-ramp fade, the war in Ukraine is poised to roil the European continent—and further destabilize the international system—with no end in sight.

H/T: Natylie’s Place: Understanding Russia

NATO announces large-scale, permanent force along Russian border

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The Telegraph, April 9th, 2022

Exclusive: Full-scale Nato military force to defend borders

NATO is drawing up plans to deploy a permanent full-scale military force on its border…the alliance’s secretary general has revealed.

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Setting out plans for the “reset” of NATO, Mr Stoltenberg pointed out that it now already had 40,000 troops under its direct command in the eastern part of the alliance – nearly 10 times the number it had a few months before the invasion

NATO announces large-scale, permanent force along Russian border

No sooner appointed than new Georgian FM summoned to NATO HQ

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Georgian FM to hold meetings at EU, NATO on April 6-8

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Ilia Darchiashvili, will visit the EU and NATO headquarters on April 6-8, Trend reports citing 1tv.ge.

No sooner appointed than new Georgian FM summoned to NATO HQ

Related:

Ukraine war, NATO Foreign Ministers meeting kicks off:

[Jens Stoltenberg] added:“We need to support Ukraine, sustain our sanctions, and strengthen our defences and our deterrence”.

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In the Strategic Concept we need to address the security consequences of Russia’s aggressive actions, of the shifting global balance of power, the security consequences of a much stronger China, and the challenges Russia and China are posing together to our rules based international order and our democratic values.

But of course also in the Strategic Concept, we will sort out the strategy for how to deal with cyber, hybrid, terrorism, and also the security consequences of climate change. So I’m looking forward to the meeting and it will be, an important meeting. Not least facing the grim reality in Ukraine. And with that, I’m ready to take your questions. He said.