Prof. ST Hsieh
Director, US-China Energy Industry Forum
626-376-7460
July 11, 2023
The war in Ukraine has lasted more than five hundred days with no end in sight. Somehow, President Zelenskky still does not understand that it is a proxy war of NATO against Russia. NATO is an established military alliance of the west countering Soviet Union, now Russia, the qualification for membership is clear. Zelenskky engaged in a war with Russia only because the US led west has provided almost unlimited military and financial support. Unfortunately, the war is in a stalemate: Russia has not achieved her goal for initiating the war, yet Ukraine has no capacity of defending her territory by forcing Russians out of Ukraine.
But as the war drags on, the ally’s support cannot last forever, because their economy has suffered. President Biden faces a tough reelection next year; Biden could not cancel the US election as done by Zelenskky for Ukraine. It is “absurd” for President Volodymyr Zelenskky blasted the organization’s failure to set a timetable for his country as “absurd.”
In fact, Zelenskky’s position for “peace” or an “end of the Ukraine war” is absurd. No matter how the war in Ukraine will end, Ukraine does deserve respect, but Zelenskky does not. The headline of the following report should read as “Zellenskky Falls Short” rather than “Ukraine Falls Short!”
Note: Stoltenberg said that the most important thing now is to ensure that his country wins the war, because “unless Ukraine prevails there is no membership to be discussed at all.”
However, Stoltenberg did not say that NATO will stand by Zellenskky’s country for ever.
Ukraine Falls Short
By Chris Megerian, Seung Min Kim and Karl Ritter, Associated Press
Jul 11, 07:45 AM
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — NATO leaders agreed Tuesday to allow Ukraine to join “when allies agree and conditions are met,” the head of the military alliance said, hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskky blasted the organization’s failure to set a timetable for his country as “absurd.”
“We reaffirmed Ukraine will become a member of NATO and agreed to remove the requirement for a membership action plan,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters, referring to a key step in joining the alliance.
“This will change Ukraine’s membership path from a two-step path to a one-step path,” he said.
Although many NATO members have funneled arms and ammunition to Zelenskky’s forces, there is no consensus among the 31 allies for admitting Ukraine into NATO’s ranks. Instead, the alliance leaders decided to remove obstacles on Ukraine’s membership path so that it can join more quickly once the war with Russia is over.
Zelenskyy pushed back sharply against the decision.
“It’s unprecedented and absurd when a time frame is set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership,” Zelenskyy tweeted as he headed to the summit. “While at the same time, vague wording about ‘conditions’ is added even for inviting Ukraine. It seems there is no readiness to invite Ukraine to NATO or to make it a member of the Alliance.”
Asked about Zelenskky’s concerns, Stoltenberg said that the most important thing now is to ensure that his country wins the war, because “unless Ukraine prevails there is no membership to be discussed at all.”
The broadside from Zelenskyy could renew tensions at the summit shortly after it saw a burst of goodwill after Turkey agreed to advance Sweden’s bid to join NATO. Allies hope to resolve the seesawing negotiations and create a clear path forward for the alliance and its support for Ukraine.
Officials have drafted a proposal, which has not been publicly released, on Ukraine’s potential membership. U.S. President Joe Biden expressed support during a meeting with Stoltenberg, but Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter that he was not satisfied.
“We value our allies,” he said but added that “Ukraine also deserves respect.”
He also said: “Uncertainty is weakness. And I will openly discuss this at the summit.”
There have been sharp divisions within the alliance over Ukraine’s desire to join NATO, which was promised back in 2008 even though few steps were taken toward that goal.
Stoltenberg wrote in Foreign Affairs on Monday that the alliance would “upgrade our political ties” by forming a NATO-Ukraine Council, which would be “a platform for decisions and crisis consultation.”
In addition, the Baltic states — including Lithuania, which is hosting the summit — have pushed for a strong show of support and a clear pathway toward membership for Ukraine.
However, the United States and Germany urged caution. Biden said last week that Ukraine was not ready to join. Members of NATO, he told CNN, need to “meet all the qualifications, from democratization to a whole range of other issues,” a nod toward longstanding concerns about governance and corruption in Kyiv.
In addition, some fear that bringing Ukraine into NATO would serve more as a provocation to Russia than as a deterrence against aggression.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said allies were debating the “precise nature” of Ukraine’s pathway to membership. However, he promised that the summit would demonstrate how Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hopes for fractures within NATO will go unfulfilled.
The dispute over Ukraine stands in contrast to a hard-fought agreement to advance Sweden’s membership. The deal was reached after days of intensive meetings, and it’s poised to expand the alliance’s strength in Northern Europe.
“Rumors of the death of NATO’s unity were greatly exaggerated,” Sullivan told reporters triumphantly on Tuesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that NATO’s expansion is “one of the reasons that led to the current situation.”
“It looks like the Europeans don’t understand their mistake,” Peskov said. He warned against putting Ukraine on a fast track for NATO membership.
He met Tuesday with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, emphasizing his commitment to transatlantic cooperation, before he joined the NATO gathering.