Whilst Joe Biden sits on his hands Russia advances using meat grinding tactics and resources to feed it. Europe must step up and really support beleaguered Ukraine or watch it become a satellite of the USSR/Russia. Permission to use weapons to hurt Russia and make it think about negotiating, not likely but I live in hope……
I wholeheartedly agree that the United States should approve deep strikes, but I do not see how any rational person could consider NATO membership an option. Since 2014 the United States and all other NATO countries have declined to send troops to Ukraine, and it appears that Emmanuel Macron is the only European leader to have seriously considered the idea. Approving NATO membership as part of a peace deal would have all the credibility of telling a bully that "the next time" he starts trouble, you will act tough. The idea of applying the Article 5 guarantee only to the four-fifths of Ukraine currently free of Russian occupation is interesting but unpersuasive. When Putin invaded with full force in 2022, everyone expected Kyiv to fall within days, but no NATO country committed troops to prevent this.
Having proven its unwillingness to fight for Ukraine, the last thing that NATO should do is offer a paper assurance of doing so. NATO membership could lead to only two outcomes, both catastrophic. The first possible outcome is that in the inevitable next war the US and NATO would be dragged into outright military confrontation with Russia. The second, and more likely, scenario is that the credibility of the entire Article 5 guarantee would be called into question. Having seen NATO extend Article 5 to a country it has refused to fight for over the past 10 years, Putin and his eventual successors could conclude that the Article 5 guarantee to the Baltic states is equally hollow.
I hope that Zelensky will be able to fight his way into a negotiation from a position of strength, but the centerpiece of the reconstruction effort should be membership in the European Union, not NATO.
Whilst Joe Biden sits on his hands Russia advances using meat grinding tactics and resources to feed it. Europe must step up and really support beleaguered Ukraine or watch it become a satellite of the USSR/Russia. Permission to use weapons to hurt Russia and make it think about negotiating, not likely but I live in hope……
I wholeheartedly agree that the United States should approve deep strikes, but I do not see how any rational person could consider NATO membership an option. Since 2014 the United States and all other NATO countries have declined to send troops to Ukraine, and it appears that Emmanuel Macron is the only European leader to have seriously considered the idea. Approving NATO membership as part of a peace deal would have all the credibility of telling a bully that "the next time" he starts trouble, you will act tough. The idea of applying the Article 5 guarantee only to the four-fifths of Ukraine currently free of Russian occupation is interesting but unpersuasive. When Putin invaded with full force in 2022, everyone expected Kyiv to fall within days, but no NATO country committed troops to prevent this.
Having proven its unwillingness to fight for Ukraine, the last thing that NATO should do is offer a paper assurance of doing so. NATO membership could lead to only two outcomes, both catastrophic. The first possible outcome is that in the inevitable next war the US and NATO would be dragged into outright military confrontation with Russia. The second, and more likely, scenario is that the credibility of the entire Article 5 guarantee would be called into question. Having seen NATO extend Article 5 to a country it has refused to fight for over the past 10 years, Putin and his eventual successors could conclude that the Article 5 guarantee to the Baltic states is equally hollow.
I hope that Zelensky will be able to fight his way into a negotiation from a position of strength, but the centerpiece of the reconstruction effort should be membership in the European Union, not NATO.