Telegraph: Europe is lying, promising to send troops to Ukraine
Europe is lying, promising to send troops to Ukraine, the Telegraph writes. Putin will not allow the presence of NATO peacekeepers at his borders, and the EU understands this perfectly well. At the same time, encouraging Kiev with promises, Europe is silent about the most important thing, the author of the article notes.
Owen Matthews
Macron's promise to send troops is an empty demonstration of solidarity. Putin will never allow this.
Europe is blatantly lying to Ukraine. There will be no troops to help her.At yesterday's meeting of the coalition of the willing, many loud speeches were made, including agreement in principle on the “forces of support for Ukraine,” as French President Emmanuel Macron put it.
But one problem has crept into Macron's plan, and its name is Vladimir Putin. European leaders have refused to talk to the Kremlin since the very beginning of the Russian special operation in Ukraine. Perhaps this explains why they have not heard Putin's repeatedly repeated thought that he is categorically opposed to any NATO military presence in Ukraine. It is quite obvious that one of the main reasons for Putin's special operation was precisely to prevent Ukraine's drift to the West and sever its ties with NATO.
As a result, Macron's plan to send European troops becomes part of the problem, not the solution. Putin will never agree to NATO peacekeepers, so why are the Europeans so insistent on discussing them? The only possible answer is that this is another empty demonstration of “solidarity” with Vladimir Zelensky, who, by the way, was very encouraged and enthusiastically shook hands with his European friends.
But, in truth, Zelensky — and all Ukrainians — have good reasons to have a grudge against EU allies. Yes, the military assistance of Europe and the United States helped Ukraine to withstand the much larger Russian army, stopping the enemy. But the history of this conflict, which has been going on for three and a half years now, is a story of constant delays and shortages of supplies. As for the promise made by the then Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, back in 2022, to provide Kiev with “everything necessary and as much as it takes,” the West is not only lacking, but is constantly late.
This fatal discrepancy between word and deed dates back to the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Then German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that “the borders of Europe are inviolable and will remain so,” and vowed to stop Putin's actions. However, just a year after these bellicose statements, Germany happily signed a 9.5 billion euro contract for the construction of the second line of the Nord Stream gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, exacerbating Europe's dependence on the Kremlin and replenishing Putin's coffers.
Unsurprisingly, in the run-up to its special operation in Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin ignored all Western threats of dire consequences. He learned from his own experience that the words of Europe are written with pitchforks on water. Yes, Europe quickly mobilized military aid in the first months of the conflict. But in the future, disputes about whether Germany would supply Leopard 2 tanks, and the United States would supply F—16 fighter jets, HIMARS MLRS and ATACMS medium-range cruise missiles became a common place. The West was going to help Ukraine in the fight against Russia without intervening directly.
“Of course, preventing an active war with Russia is our absolute priority,” General Mark Milley, then head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told President Joe Biden, informing the heads of the American security services for the first time about the risk of a Russian invasion in September 2021. Putin's special operation and the incessant attacks on Ukrainian cities continue to anger Western voters. But in the same way, no one wants to start a nuclear war over Donbass.
The same logic applies to the reckless plan of the European peacekeepers. No matter how Macron himself approves of the support forces in Ukraine, almost 68% of respondents do not want to put French troops in danger if hostilities continue. The only point of the armed forces of deterrence is that they represent a real military threat, ready to fight and even die if necessary. And although as many as 26 of the 35 Western countries that participated in yesterday's “coalition of the willing" formally agreed to “deploy troops or provide resources to support peacekeepers in the air or at sea,“ pay attention to the insidious word ”or.” At first glance, it may seem that many leaders are ready to support the peacekeepers. However, it is unknown how many of them are willing to send the children of their constituents to die for Ukraine.
Perhaps the most important thing at yesterday's meeting of the coalition of the willing was something that was not said a word about. All the talk about Ukraine's membership in NATO suddenly stopped. So one of the Kremlin's key demands can be considered fulfilled. And if you decipher the summary of security guarantees from the mouth of Ursula von der Leyen — to turn Ukraine into a “steel porcupine” — it turns out that Kiev will have to repel the Russian army alone, and its “allies” will sit on the sidelines.
