J.B Dauda
It was the United States that started flirting with Ukraine about this idea of Ukraine joining NATO — a military alliance that is the geopolitical enemy of Russia, with whom Ukraine shares a border. This flirting started in a definite way in 2009. But guess who it was that was directly responsible for dangling a NATO membership to Ukraine?
In 2009, Joe Biden (then Vice President of President Barack Obama) told then Ukrainian President:
“If you choose to be part of Euro-Atlantic integration, which I believe you have, then we strongly support that . . . We do not recognize anyone else’s right to dictate to you or any other country what alliances you seek to belong to.”
In other words, forget Russian threats and go ahead with the project of joining NATO (which he rightly referred to as a Euro-Atlantic alliance); we do not recognize Russia’s right to dictate to you which alliance you should belong to.
This was the messy situation President Donald Trump inherited — a situation where Ukraine had already been made to believe that the United States will support them in joining NATO.
Rather than try to turn back the hands of time and create a different set of problems, Trump just used American economic might to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine, and, I truly believe, he must have given Ukraine the cold shoulder about the issue of joining NATO. If Ukraine cannot join NATO and Putin cannot see a clear path towards invading Ukraine to prevent their joining NATO (because of Trump’s sanction on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline) then this dynamic situation will become the status quo. No Russian invasion and no new efforts on the part of Ukraine to join NATO. Peace.
But, like I explained in my post last week titled (Understanding the Russia-Ukraine Conflict in 5 Minutes) one of the first things Joe Biden did, as soon as he got into the White House on the 20th of January, 2021, was to waive the Trump sanctions over Nord Stream 2. In other words, he removed the economic roadblock Donald Trump had wisely placed on Putin’s path for an invasion of Ukraine. To prove that Joe Biden wanted the current war to take place, after clearing the path to a Russian invasion, he then basically deceived Ukraine into thinking that the American military will step in, were Russia to attempt an invasion. Everybody knows that American military threat alone (plus mega sanctions) can cause Russia to think twice about invading Ukraine. So the President of Ukraine had no fear, as long as he believed that the United States was committed to Ukraine’s defence. How was he deceived into this mindset?
Another thing Joe Biden did to empower Putin and Russia was to cancel the US-Canada Keystone XL pipeline, apart from blocking several drilling permits in the US, basically reducing America’s oil production capacity. This forced America to increase its oil import from Russia. Don’t ask me to explain this madness.
So, to deceive Ukraine into audacity (after empowering Russia by waiving Trump’s sanctions and increasing oil demand from Russia) Joe Biden signed up Ukraine as a so-called NATO Partner State. Not a NATO State but a NATO Partner State. That is to say, although Ukraine was not yet part of NATO, Ukraine was quiet close to that goal. Ukraine had a special relationship with NATO. As far as NATO was concerned, Ukraine was not just any other country. Of course Joe Biden knew that Russia will be quite apoplectic about this development. And yet they did it. One can only guess what they told the President of Ukraine off record. Somehow, he was made to feel that he was almost a member of NATO and NATO would not just stand idly by while Russia invaded Ukraine.
As if this deceptive status of NATO Partner State granted Ukraine was not enough, on the 10th of November last year (2021) the Joe Biden administration signed a charter with Ukraine on “Strategic Partnership” and the administration restated its support for Ukraine joining NATO. Part of this charter states that:
“The US will emphasize unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, including Crimea, and extending to its territorial waters, in the face of ongoing Russian aggression which threatens regional peace and security and undermine the global rule-based order.”
I hope you noticed that the US referred to Crimea (now under Russian control) as Ukrainian territory?
This was further assurance to Ukraine and their President (Zelensky) that Joe Biden and the United States considered them special friends. Now, if you are a special friend with a superpower like the United States, you are likely to feel confident that, in case of your country being invaded, at least the superpower can provide you with a no-fly zone so you can sort things out for yourself on the ground. You are likely to feel confident of real and consequential military support that will guarantee your defense capabilities and survival.
As soon as Vladimir Putin realized that the “Strategic Partnership” charter had been signed between the US and Ukraine, he knew the chips were down. It was now or never. He had to invade Ukraine now or Russia would lose its place in the global pecking order.
Right now, Ukraine is being destroyed before our very eyes and all you get from Joe Biden and NATO are sanctions, sanctions, and more sanctions. First of all, the sanctions do not target Russia’s energy sector so Russia is not losing cash. In fact, with the price of crude oil skyrocketing, Russia is actually making more money. Russia is also selling (more expensive) gas to Europe so the sanctions noise is just noise. That is why they keep making the noise — to make you feel they are helping Ukraine.
My name sake, Joseph Okechukwu, uploaded a seemingly crazy video on his YouTube channel in January. That video claims that, for 2022, a depopulation move through World War 3 is on the agenda of the New World Order. This Russia-Ukraine conflict smells like the beginning of that war. That would mean Putin has a boss telling him what to do; Biden has a boss telling him what to do; Zelensky has a boss telling him what to do: and that the boss of these three Presidents is the same individual or group of individuals. The end game, if this is the case, will be nuclear war that will result in mass casualty in Europe and the United States.
While you consider the above “conspiracy theory” note that, just last week, Hilary Clinton said publicly that the Ukraine situation was a set up and that the US may be trying to turn Ukraine into another Afghanistan so as to “bleed Russia”. In other words, Hilary Clinton is saying that there could be a deadlock in the war (with no clear winner) and, like in Afghanistan, the West will then fund an insurgency in the same way they funded Osama Bin Laden to fight against Russia when Russia was in Afghanistan. I heard her say these words with my own ears. I am only paraphrasing for ease of understanding.
Israel’s Iron Dome (jointly developed by the United States and Israel) can effectively impose a no-fly zone in the skies of Ukraine. No wonder, Ukraine has asked for the iron dome, which is one of the best in its class in the world today. But, of course, Zelensky’s request was denied. Israel is afraid of offending Russia and that can be understood because Russia is in Syria and can create unmanageable problems for Israel. But what is stopping the US from the deployment of patriot missile systems and other options they have to protect Ukraine? My point is that, if you never intended to help Ukraine with these sort of consequential weapons, why did you make Ukraine and Zelensky feel you would? Why make Ukraine a so-called NATO Partner State and, in November — while Russia’s temper was already rising dangerously — sign a “Strategic Partnership Charter” with them? How useful has that charter proved other than to deceive Zelensky and the Ukrainians?
I smell something
I smell a set up
May God have mercy on the Ukrainians and on all of us.
Correction
The two predominantly Russian-speaking regions that broke away from Ukraine after the ouster of Viktor Yanakovich are Lugansk and Donetsk, not Lugansk and Donbass as mistakenly stated in last week’s post titled Understanding the Russia-Ukraine Conflict — In 5 Minutes
Thanks for your understanding.
J.D.
