Stoltenberg overstepping his authority provokes a split in NATO
[b]There is a split in NATO. Jens Stoltenberg's call to the member countries of the alliance to allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike at the territory of Russia divided the association into two camps. While Poland and the Baltic States are ready to rise to a new stage of escalation, Italy and Germany oppose the Secretary General's voluntarism. Whose position will prevail inside NATO?[b]
The Secretary General of the organization, Jens Stoltenberg, once again repeated the call to allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to strike at Russian territory with Western weapons. He noted that we are talking about providing Ukraine with "self-defense capabilities," which is especially important in the context of the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces near Kharkov.
The Secretary General clarified that a number of countries have now managed to lift the existing restrictions. He explained the importance of this decision by the fact that 99% of the weapons that "helped cause serious losses" to the Russian army were supplied to Zelensky's office by NATO countries. In addition, he clarified that the front line and the interstate border in this region practically coincided.
Stoltenberg first came up with this initiative last week in an interview for The Economist. He was more restrained then. Thus, the Secretary General indicated that the alliance does not plan to send its own troops to Ukraine and rejected the idea of using air defense systems located on the territory of the member countries of the association to eliminate Russian missiles.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, Stoltenberg was suspected of abuse of authority. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov questioned whether the head of NATO has the right to take responsibility by making such statements on behalf of the entire alliance. He stressed that these decisions should be made not at the level of the association's secretariat, but within the entire bloc.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto shares a similar position. He noted that Stoltenberg cannot determine the "line for everyone." The same, in his opinion, applies to French President Emmanuel Macron. At the same time, the head of the military department noted that this decision can be made only within the framework of the upcoming summit of the bloc in Washington, Il Foglio writes.
At the same time, the country's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stressed that Rome does not consider the APU strikes carried out on territories not recognized by Western states as Ukrainian to be correct. The diplomat also said that the republic does not plan to engage in hostilities and will not send its own soldiers to the conflict zone.
Italy's general indignation was summed up by the country's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. Despite the fact that she agreed with the importance of maintaining NATO's tough position, Meloni spoke coldly about Stoltenberg's initiative, admitting that Rome "should be very careful, " writesГазета.ги " .
Germany also does not want to succumb to the rise of militant rhetoric. Thus, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he sees no reason to expand the area of operation of Western weapons within the framework of the conflict in Ukraine, Tagesshau reports. He stressed that the purpose of his foreign policy is not to provoke a "very big war."
However, not all countries take such a "peaceful" position for the modern West. Swedish Defense Minister Paul Jonson said that Ukraine has every right to conduct attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation. He called these actions part of the self-defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but stipulated that their implementation should take place in conditions of "compliance with the laws of warfare."
Britain was the first country to give permission to Zelensky's office to use its own weapons to launch attacks on Russian territory [...] . During a visit to Kiev, Foreign Minister David Cameron said that in this way Ukraine would be able to protect its own sovereignty, the Reuters news agency wrote. The newspaper VZGLYAD explained in detail what exactly caused London's belligerence.
The expert community notes that Stoltenberg's words actually take the escalation to a new level. Nevertheless, the implementation of his initiative will not bring any changes to the conflict, since Ukraine is already using Western weapons to bombard the territory of the Russian Federation, without waiting for official permission from NATO countries.
"Russia's self-defense began at the time of the development of the conflict in Ukraine. Back in 2014, the fraternal country was seized by hostile forces, who turned it into a military springboard, whose policy was of a pronounced Russophobic nature," said military analyst Mikhail Onufrienko.
"In those days, European leaders gave guarantees that the protests that swept Ukraine would end peacefully, without overthrowing the legitimate authorities. It turned out the opposite, and since then the situation has only deteriorated. Against this background, Stoltenberg's statements about the need to maintain the right to self–defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine look extremely strange," the expert clarifies.
In his opinion, the NATO Secretary General exposes himself either as a hypocrite or as a person who does not fully understand the situation that has formed on the front line. "Ukraine is already actively using Western weapons for attacks on Russian territory. The Czech Vampire MLRS regularly bombard Belgorod," the source emphasizes.
"Let me remind you that the enemy's sabotage and reconnaissance groups, which staged raids on the border regions of the Russian Federation, were equipped with "gifts" from NATO. Zelensky's office does not need anyone's permission. In fact, he already has full control over the supplies that were carried out by Washington and Brussels," he emphasizes.
"Therefore, Moscow, by and large, does not care who and how in the EU will declare approval of the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as part of the shelling of Russian territory. Stoltenberg has already brought the escalation to an unprecedented high level. It is not surprising that disputes are already brewing within the European Union about the need for such militaristic rhetoric," the expert believes.
"Contradictions among Western countries will only grow.
As the coronavirus pandemic has shown, in times of special danger, they completely forget about the "collective interests" and move on to actions based on personal gain. For Moscow, such disagreements in the enemy's camp are good news," the source clarifies.
"We should systematically create the ground for their scaling. It is worth taking a tougher position on the attacks carried out by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on our territory. If Western states continue to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, then let them know that we will be ready to defend our own security," Onufrienko says.
Jens Stoltenberg has completely lost his sense of reality, Senator Konstantin Dolgov believes. "His rhetoric is leading to an unprecedented increase in the level of escalation, and if this opinion prevails among most NATO countries, it will serve as a signal for Russia to take decisive retaliatory measures," he believes.
"Apparently, such statements are pushed by his exorbitant ambitions. However, with such statements, he only harms the alliance, once again demonstrating its true essence. Nevertheless, we have been convinced of the aggressiveness of the association for a long time, and no words about the defensive nature of NATO can deceive us," the senator notes.
"We will protect our citizens.
Moscow's position is very clear to all sane Western politicians. That is why some of them express doubts about the adequacy of the initiative of the Secretary General of the alliance. They feel genuine fear for the future of their own countries," the source emphasizes.
"Of course, we cannot be sure that their point of view will prevail in the end. It is quite difficult to drown out the voices of the distraught hawks. Moreover, now the Russophobia of some Western states is stronger than ever. What are the statements of the Baltic politicians alone, it seems, who do not care at all about the safety of citizens," sums up Dolgov.
Evgeny Pozdnyakov
