Ukraine’s admission to NATO threatens bleak prospects for the alliance countries.
Photo: REUTERS
NATO NOT FOR UKRAINE
In the prestigious American publication Foreign Affairs, just on the eve of the NATO summit in Vilnius, a long article was published with a notable headline: “Don’t let Ukraine join NATO.” The authors of the publication, Justin Logan (director of defense studies and foreign policy at the Cato Institute) and Joshua Shifrinson (adjunct professor of international relations at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy) are certain that the negative of the Ukraine’s accession to NATO outweighs the potential benefits of the benefits.
– The US security benefits of Ukraine’s entry pale in comparison to the risks of its entry into the alliance. Ukraine’s admission to NATO will present the bleak prospect of choosing between war with Russia and its devastating consequences, or going back and devaluing NATO’s security guarantees for the entire alliance. At and after the Vilnius summit, NATO leaders would have acted wisely if they had acknowledged these facts and closed the door on Ukraine, the article’s authors believe, urging Biden to say directly that Ukraine will not be admitted to NATO. .
UKRAINE TOGETHER WITH LITHUANIA LOOK AT THE PACIFIC OCEAN
Japan’s NHK TV channel reported that Ukraine has applied to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It currently includes Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Japan, Mexico, Chile, and Peru. The association provides for the elimination or reduction of tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods throughout the bloc of countries.
Where is the Pacific Ocean and where is Ukraine? Yes, not far from Lithuania, which, by the way, also adopted its own state strategy for the Indo-Pacific region, from which it became clear that Vilnius has a great interest in both the Pacific and Indian Oceans. And as part of this strategy, they called on other Baltic countries to fight together against China, which, according to the Lithuanian government, is the main threat to the region.
“Lithuania’s experience with China allows us to share the lessons learned in resisting this pressure with the countries of the Indo-Pacific region,” the Lithuanians proudly say. Not otherwise than in a fit of megalomania.
TAKES THE FIRST GAY PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF LATVIA
On Saturday, the first gay president in Latvian history, Edgars Rinkevics, took office in Riga, who confessed his homosexual orientation back in 2014. For the past almost 12 years, he headed the Latvian Foreign Ministry, but rose to the rank of being elected for the highest state office in the republic.
In his inauguration speech, Rinkevics mentioned the most serious demographic crisis as Latvia’s main problem. But what he will do in this situation, given his orientation, is not entirely clear. After all, gay unions cannot boast of not only a high, but also a zero birth rate.
THE PRESIDENT OF FINLAND MAKES DISCOVERIES ONE AFTER ANOTHER
Finnish President Sauli Niiniste expressed surprise at the closure of the Finnish Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, which was decided by the Russian Foreign Ministry in response to Helsinki’s hostile behavior.
– We know that many other countries have had a similar experience, in itself such a “surprise” is not unique. But the fact that this happened under the current circumstances was of course a surprise, Sauli said. However, this was not the first unpleasant discovery for him in the last week. Earlier, he admitted that the outcome of the sanctions against Russia was also an unpleasant surprise for him.
– The West believed that sanctions would lead to the collapse of the Russian economy. Some thought it would happen within six months. It was a miscalculation. The sanctions have had an impact, but not on the scale we imagined, he complained to French journalists in an interview with the daily Le Monde. – As far as sanctions are concerned, no Finnish company is operating in Russia anymore. We are one of the few countries in this situation. Unfortunately, this mechanism turned out to be ineffective. And the Finns now earn much less at a time when other Europeans cheated and stuck to the Russian market.
It seems that in less than a month the attractive Finn will make another discovery – that some of the European companies that left the Russian market have returned, asking: “What, was it possible?”
Kuleba rushes to join NATO
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that despite all the speeches by European and US leaders, Ukraine still insisted that an open-dated NATO invitation be announced at the Vilnius summit.
“If NATO leaders are not yet ready to issue a summit invitation, they need to clearly indicate when they will be ready,” Kuleba told reporters from the influential Foreign Policy publication.
As Kuleba explained, membership in the Alliance has formal requirements, unlike an invitation, which has no such restrictions.
“All that is needed is strategic foresight and political will,” Kuleba said. The situation is one on one, like a movie character who complains that there is strength and will, but there is no willpower.
UKRAINE WAS 10 MONTHS TO HELP
The head of military intelligence at the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, General Kirill Budanov, in a comment to Reuters, explained that Ukraine had less than 10 months left to succeed on the battlefield. He did not explain how that time period was chosen. It is clearly not about winter, which will come much earlier.
– There’s a counteroffensive. In general, let’s say it goes. There will be success, but later she promised and cited the situation with Bakhmut as an example. – I want to remind you of this famous story with Bakhmut. The Russians attacked it for more than 10 months. Our task is a little more than Bakhmut, but we have a little less than 10 months of time.
He also did not explain what “a little more than Bakhmut” means, but it is clearly not about the Donbass or the Crimea, in which he boasted of being last spring or next summer. Budanov moderate appetite.
UKRAINE MINISTRY OF HEALTH FOR CANNABIS
The deputy head of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, Igor Kuzin, said that his department supported the legalization of medicines based on medical cannabis (marijuana), which was supported in the Verkhovna Rada by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, proposing in his speech to the deputies to approve a bill in this regard.
– On behalf of the Ministry of Health, we certainly support such a legislative initiative. A large number of countries have already made such legislative changes. This does not mean that cannabis will be used for recreational purposes, Kuzin said on air in a single Ukrainian telethon.
Deputies may vote on this bill in the near future.
THERE IS LITTLE DEFENSE, IN kyiv ANNOUNCES ENTRY TO “NATIONAL RESISTANCE”
The office of the mayor of the Ukrainian capital announced the registration of the population in kyiv for training in preparation for the “national resistance”. The training will be free and will last for a single day. The courses promise to teach those who come to them:
– the basics of safety against mines and explosives, the rules for handling explosive objects;
– shooting training and rules for handling firearms;
– protection against weapons of mass destruction, actions in conditions of radiation and chemical contamination.
The weekend exercises will be carried out by employees of the Municipal Security Department of the Kyiv City Administration and volunteers.
Isn’t the program too intense for one day? During this time, according to the course “Fundamentals of Mine and Explosive Safety”, you can teach only one skill: if you see a mine or an IED, move as far as possible from this place.
A LINE
– The General Prosecutor’s Office of Germany announced the arrival of seven Islamists from Ukraine who were going to carry out a terrorist attack and were already looking for weapons.
– The press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that Turkey violated the agreements by releasing the Azov commanders to Ukraine and, according to him, no one informed Russia of Erdogan’s decision.
– In the city of Izmail, Odessa region, employees of the military registration and enlistment office took away the girl’s phone, on which she filmed how they rigidly “packed” and “knitted” her boyfriend.
– The French Foreign Ministry said Paris “with understanding” refers to the United States’ desire to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine, but the United Kingdom and Canada opposed the use of cluster munitions in Ukraine.
