Difference between revisions of "2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine"

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Since the end of the [[Cold War]]<ref>https://www.dw.com/en/nato-why-russia-has-a-problem-with-its-eastward-expansion/a-60891681</ref> [[NATO]] is getting closer to Russia known as the [[encirclement of Russia]]. Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] escalated talks with ultimatums to prevent [[Ukraine]] from joining [[NATO]] in [[2021]], but invaded when [[Russia]]'s demands were not met.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/17/russia-issues-list-demands-tensions-europe-ukraine-nato</ref>
 
Since the end of the [[Cold War]]<ref>https://www.dw.com/en/nato-why-russia-has-a-problem-with-its-eastward-expansion/a-60891681</ref> [[NATO]] is getting closer to Russia known as the [[encirclement of Russia]]. Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] escalated talks with ultimatums to prevent [[Ukraine]] from joining [[NATO]] in [[2021]], but invaded when [[Russia]]'s demands were not met.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/17/russia-issues-list-demands-tensions-europe-ukraine-nato</ref>
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In the months before the start of military action by Russia, rearmament with [[nuclear weapons]] was entertained by Ukraine.
  
 
==Official narrative==
 
==Official narrative==

Revision as of 23:55, 8 March 2022

Event.png "Imperialism"
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine (Coup,  Cold war 2.0,  War) Rdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
A0659ccf691671adce459fc4c6816bf6.jpg
Date24 February 2022 - Present
LocationDonbass,  Kyiv,  Ukraine,  Russia,  Europe
PlannersVladimir Putin
ParticipantsRussia, Ukraine, Belarus
Deaths2550+"+" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 2550.
Injured (non-fatal)3150+"+" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 3150.
Interest of'Burning Blogger of Bedlam', Lyudmyla Denisova, Jacob Dreizin, Daria Kaleniuk, Rebekah Koffler, Patrick Lancaster, Joe Lauria, Lila Rajiva, Scott Ritter, Wagner Group
Interests • Encirclement of Russia
• NATO/Propaganda
• War in Donbass
Filmed byCNN
Subpage2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine/Incorporation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia into Russia
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine/Legacy
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine/Premature death
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine/Preparation
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine/Wagner coup attempt
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine/War Crimes
DescriptionIn a new episode of Cold War 2.0 Russia forcefully halted NATO expansion by invading Ukraine, with financial support of China. Although the EU and US denounced the "war crimes" as multiple cities were bombed, several countries opted less severe sanctions to keep importing diamonds and luxury goods and gas (and their loaned money) from Russia, seemingly creating a new iron curtain in Eastern Europe.

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022 when Russia launched a large-scale Special Military Operation against its south-west neighbour Ukraine involving forces from western Russia, Belarus and Crimea[1], a severe escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that started in 2014 with the 2014 Ukraine coup.

Since the end of the Cold War[2] NATO is getting closer to Russia known as the encirclement of Russia. Russian president Vladimir Putin escalated talks with ultimatums to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO in 2021, but invaded when Russia's demands were not met.[3]

In the months before the start of military action by Russia, rearmament with nuclear weapons was entertained by Ukraine.

Official narrative

Full article: Cold War 2.0
The basic official narrative explaining this war in geopolitics.

On 25 February 2022, Wikipedia wrote:

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine and Russia continued to retain close ties.

In 1994, Ukraine agreed to abandon its nuclear arsenal and signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances on condition that Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States would provide assurances against threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine.

Five years later, Russia was one of the signatories of the Charter for European Security, where it "reaffirmed the inherent right of each and every participating State to be free to choose or change its security arrangements, including treaties of alliance, as they evolve.

In 2008, Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke out against Ukraine's potential accession to NATO.[4]

Interestingly enough, CCM media outlet The Economist painted Putin in a much different light than former President George W. Bush, who invaded a country which was never linked to the casus belli (9-11), possibly hinting NATO may still set foot on Ukrainian soil.
Full article: Minsk agreements

Following weeks of protests as part of the Euromaidan movement (2013–2014), pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and the leaders of the Ukrainian parliamentary opposition on 21 February 2014 signed a settlement agreement that called for an early election. The following day, Yanukovych fled from Kyiv ahead of an impeachment vote that stripped him of his powers as president. Leaders of the Russian-speaking eastern regions of Ukraine declared continuing loyalty to Yanukovych, causing the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. The unrest was followed by the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014 and the War in Donbass, which started in April 2014 with the creation of the Russia-backed quasi-states of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.

On 14 September 2020, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved Ukraine's new National Security Strategy, "which provides for the development of the distinctive partnership with NATO with the aim of membership in NATO." On 24 March 2021, Zelenskyy signed the Decree No. 117/2021 approving the "strategy of de-occupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol."

In July 2021, Putin published an essay titled "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians", in which he re-affirmed his view that Russians and Ukrainians were "one people". American historian Timothy Snyder described Putin's ideas as imperialism. British journalist Edward Lucas described it as historical revisionism. Other observers have described the Russian leadership as having a distorted view of modern Ukraine and its history.

Russia has said that a possible Ukrainian accession to NATO and the NATO enlargement in general threaten its national security. In turn, Ukraine and other European countries neighbouring Russia have accused Putin of attempting Russian irredentism and of pursuing aggressive militaristic policies."[5]

Concerns

Firstly, the attack came at a time when the COVID-19 fear narrative was falling apart rather spectacularly.[6] Justin Trudeau had frozen the bank accounts of the Canadian truckers who were protesting against government overreach, and direct action was spreading globally. The "Omicron" variant understood to have a very low IFR, and official statistics were showing that the COVID jabs increased risk of omicron infection. Therefore a change of topic was opportune. It is therefore interesting that Klaus Schwab has named Putin as a WEF Young Global Leader,[7] and that the COVID project since 2019 has heavily staffed by members of the same group (as well as the Bilderberg).

Encirclement of Russia

Full article: Encirclement of Russia

After increased militarisation and so called colour revolutions backed by the establishment in NATO countries in Eastern Europe, Russia was faced with a hostile regime in Kyiv, seeking NATO membership and military aid from NATO. Ukraine fell apart and three regions (Crimea and the Donbass) declared independance. One of those (Crimea) hosts a major Russian military base and port to the Black Sea at Sevastopol. Although 30% of the population speak Russian there, the use of the language was outlawed[8] by the Ukrainian government in Kyiv, which was at this time described as a US puppet regime. Kyiv's use of the Azov Battalion was deemed highly controversial but a third rail topic in western corporate media, calling the claims of Putin that he was fighting Nazis ludicrous. [9] This was seen as humiliation by Russia and Putin called for an "end to the Russian Genocide[10] in the Donbass", part of Russian propaganda to legitimize the invasion.

Putin's speech on 21 February 2022, reiterating many points of his July 2021 article about the "Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians",[11] which was made required reading in the Russian army.[12]
He also warns western military action against this Special Military Operation would result in an extreme, violent Russian response.

“The bitter truth is that Washington's foreign policy establishment never actually considered Zelensky - or his predecessor Poroshenko - to be allies or partners of the United States. Overflowing with a toxic mix of ignorance, arrogance, and extreme cynicism, Washington's elites have always viewed Ukraine as a tool to "regime-change" a Russia that, after its post-Yeltsin recovery, would no longer take its direction from them. The false gods of American exceptionalism are jealous ones indeed.”
Daniel McAdams (26 February 2022)  [13]

Reactions

“Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he'll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people”
Joe Biden (2 March 2022)  [14]

In an exclusive interview on CGTN, Alfred de Zayas, UN's first independent expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order, argues that colour revolutions are "all illegal," violating the UN Charter and customary international law. "An imperial arrogance and narcissism" is being revealed, says de Zayas, and "the poor Ukrainian people are now paying for this." China Global Television Network, 2 March 2022.

Censorship

The EU decreed as of March, 2 that "distribution" of RT or Sputnik news is forbidden.[15] Russia responded by expelling German journalists from their Deutsche Welle office in Moscow.[16]

A case for the International Criminal Court?

Most US-backed countries such as the UK under Boris Johnson called the bombing of cities such as Charkov and Kyiv a war crime.[17]

UN/Security Council

China denounced the use of the word "invasion" and accused the United States of agitating for war, and refused to vote for military action against Russia in the UN/Security Council.[18] This geopolitical angle was not discussed widely in western corporate media, a continuation of a Cold War 2.0, where Russia and (since the 2010s) China have been working together to form a geopolitical force against the EU and the US.[19] China increased their imports from Russia, effectively halting financial consequences for the first stages of the war.[20]

The UN full assembly condemned Russia.

Sanctions

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine-RT-Twitter suspension.png

In a telling way of how money changes people, several European countries refuse to implement sanctions although denouncing Russia's actions "war crimes". Italy and Belgium refused severe sanctions for Russian banking as "diamonds" and "luxury clothing" were deemed more important than Ukrainian lives.[21] With China backing Russia in the UN Security Council, Ukraine appeared to be facing the same fate of African countries during the the imperialism of the 1900s as merely a toy in geopolitical games.[22]

Nord Stream is a system of offshore natural gas pipelines from Russia to Germany. It includes two lines running from Vyborg to Greifswald forming original Nord Stream, and two lines under construction running from Ust-Luga to Greifswald termed Nord Stream 2. Nord Stream 2 is owned and will be operated by Nord Stream 2 AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gazprom. In 2011, Nord Stream AG started evaluation of an expansion project consisting of two additional lines (later named Nord Stream 2) to increase the overall annual capacity up to 110 billion m3 (3.9 trillion cu ft). Following this invasion, certification of NS2 was suspended indefinitely by Germany.

Fear of counter-sanctions

Germany imports 30% of its oil and 50% of its gas supply from Russia, making it vulnerable to counter-sanctions and depleting its own reserves as oil and gas prices soared. [23]

Sanctions against China?

The Atlantic Council called Washington D.C to prepare sanctions also against China as punishment for its support of Russia.[24]

NATO

NATO openly ships weapons (and credit) in support of Ukraine.[25]

“I asked them – are you with us?” Zelensky said. “They answered that they are with us, but they don’t want to take us into the alliance. I’ve asked 27 leaders of Europe, if Ukraine will be in NATO, I’ve asked them directly — all are afraid and did not respond We were left by ourselves. Who is ready to go to war for us? Honestly, I don’t see anybody. Who is ready to give Ukraine guarantees of NATO membership? Honestly, everybody is afraid”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy,  RT (24 February 2022)  [26]

Ukraine has been left to fend for itself according to President Zelenskyy, with NATO refusing to enter Ukraine according to him, upon request. The Ukrainian president even publicly suggested to negotiate for Swiss-styled neutrality to not join NATO per law.[27] This appears to pave the way more for military spending into the 2020s, raising questions which deep state faction would benefit from that.[28]

World Economic Forum

Klaus Schwab has boasted of Putin's inclusion in the WEF Global Leaders for Tomorrow deep state recruitment network[29], but the WEF removed their page of Putin following the invasion.[30]

Legacy

De-Dollarization?

Russia would find other customers for its oil and gas if sanctions of NATO countries in this area take a hold, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.[31] This could lead to increased bypassing of the US dollar as the world's reserve currency, probably involving an increase of (already existing) credit swaps between Russia and other nations such as China and BRICS. The world's reserve currency is the backbone of our global financial system[32] which would be severely shaken if global demand for the US dollar decreases, US deficit spending limited and the practice of bilateral credit swaps be accepted more widely.

Belt and Road Initiative

The vicious circle that the western politicians represented by the European Council didn't want to cut off Russia from the worldwide banking systems partly because Russians owed their countries too much money, is a similar scenario that scholars have painted as a possible choke-hold in case China invaded Taiwan or Hong Kong with their lending to many Asian states.[33]

Media censorship

The consolidation of the media has been further strengthened by the mass panic in reaction to the invasion causing more alternative media funded by countries such as Russia to be banned from accessing without a VPN. Euronews reported that the European Federation of Journalists (or EFJ) said it feared the effects of this spiral of censorship on freedom of expression in Europe, pointing out it is always better to counteract the disinformation of propagandist or allegedly propagandist media by exposing their factual errors or bad journalism, by demonstrating their lack of financial or operational independence, by highlighting their loyalty to government interests and their disregard for the public interest.[34]

After 2 days, Google banned this page from appearing altogether in search requests.[35]

Distraction of WHO COVID legislation

While all eyes are focused on this war new far-reaching legislation was pushed through and under-reported by the commercially-controlled media regarding digital ID and jab mandation. The new ID format would be linked to access the soon-to-be-introduced blockchain-based money. [36]

War propaganda

False flag Russian style - old model police jeep

In the Russian official narrative in the buildup to the war, Donbass was supposed to be under extraordinary threat or stress. To further this narrative, Russia in February instigated a series of false flag attacks of limited credibility, blowing up the car of a police official (but being extra cheap they didn’t even use his real car)[37]; "Ukrainian shelling” completely destroyed an empty residence and a farm building outside Rostov (inside Russia)[38]; an FSB border post in the middle of the forest was allegedly blown up with no causalities; a (presumably fake) car bomb was found on the route of evacuation buses with civilians[39][40]. In yet another coincidence the Lada bomb was discovered in the nick of time by the ultra-competent LPR militia. (And then blown up. Once again it’s the cheapest possible car that gets blown up.)[39]

 

Sub-Pages

          Page Name          SizeDescription
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine/Incorporation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia into Russia33,951Late September 2022, Russia held 4 referendums annexing some regions from Ukraine.
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine/Legacy16,047A list of long term political effects that have a significant chance of becoming permanent in the countries of participants or sponsors.
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine/Premature death10,232Premature deaths of mostly Russian businessman during and around when the Russian invasion commenced. There may be Ukrainian and others as well. As the list grows, it appears the men are being targeted in dozens of western countries as well.
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine/Preparation14,084A list of ways both sides prepared for the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine/Wagner coup attempt5,948An attempted coup, by some seen as false flag by Putin to lure out generals and double agents within the Russian State, by others as the sign the Russian state will collapse in the 2020s.
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine/War Crimes8,312A list of War crimes and propaganda in this event.

 

Related Quotations

PageQuoteAuthorDate
2014 Ukraine coup“I suspect this entire Ukraine Crisis had been war-gamed and war planned quite some time ago at the highest levels of US/NATO. Notice DOD slipped 2 US warships into the Black Sea just before the Olympics under a patently absurd pretext. In other words, what we are seeing unfold here is a US/NATO War Plan. They instigated the fascist coup against Yanukovich. They anticipated that Putin would then respond by taking over Crimea.

I suspect the US/NATO/EU response will be to introduce military forces into Western Ukraine and Kiev and thus make Ukraine a de facto member of NATO, which has been their objective all along. They have already anticipated what Putin’s next move after that will be. Notice also the massive anti-Russian campaign by the Western News Media working in lock-step with each other. Another sign that all this has been planned well in advance.

I suspect that US/NATO/EU figure that Putin knows they have this offensive, first-strike strategic nuclear capability with a rudimentary ABM/BMD capability so that at the end of the day he will be forced to stand down—or else. Compellence as opposed to Deterrence. Just like during the Cuban Missile Crisis. That is where this US/NATO/EU War Plan is heading on the assumptions that they can keep their deliberate Escalation Dominance under their control and that at the end of the day Putin will be forced to stand down just like Khrushchev did and for the same reasons. That would leave US/NATO/EU in control of at least half of Ukraine as a de facto NATO member state.”
Francis BoyleFebruary 2014
Azov Battalion“In 2014, when the volunteer squads were defending the country, many of their appeals were quite radical against the Russian Federation. They were volunteers and it was their personal point of view. The Azov battalion are not volunteers, but are part of the National Guard. They are the official army of our state. Those who wanted to engage in politics - they were engaged in politics. Those who decided to be in the AFU, they became part of the AFU,”Volodymyr ZelenskyMay 2022
Josep Borrell“This war will be won on the battlefield. Additional €500 million from the #EPF are underway. Weapon deliveries will be tailored to Ukrainian needs.”Josep Borrell9 April 2022
Dave Cullen“[...] whether it is Covid lockdowns, or raising the price of electricity and fuel, or restrictions on energy usage, such as mandatory rationing, or even powercuts - the result is always the same. Winding down the economy, destroying small to medium businesses, forcing more people to stay at home, reducing human movement and making people dependent on the government for their most basic needs. [...] The plan appears to be, do drag on the Ukraine war for as long as possible, so as to create an excuse to accelerate the transition to completely insufficient power sources such as wind, wave and solar energy, during this process energy rationing will become the norm, [...]”Dave Cullen13 September 2022
Jacob Dreizin“Uncle Sam is on track to offload just about all his surplus gear onto the Ukraine. He’s just getting warmed up. They are talking about self-propelled cannon and hundreds of M113 armored vehicles, not to mention 40,000 rounds for the cannon, counterbattery radar stations, helicopters, you name it. [...]
Sending more, larger, and heavier equipment to the Ukraine, won’t do anything, other than seal the total destruction of the Ukraine, and its transformation into a starving European Somalia with nuclear power plants. As I’ve written before, Russia will escalate by destroying the bridges over the Dniepr, preventing the equipment from reaching its destination, while also permanently destroying what’s left of the Ukraine’s economy, making the eastern half totally dependent on Russia for its subsistence.”
Jacob Dreizin17 April 2022
Ben Hodges“The Russians have zero, zero positive outcomes if they use a nuclear weapon. There's no benefit for them if they use it...The Army, the Air Force, all of our services are constantly training, preparing, maintaining a level of readiness to send the signal to the Kremlin that we are ready, that we are prepared....The apocalyptic sort of ending is not going to happen because even the Russians know that there's no positive outcome for them if they do that...The only benefit they get is from threatening to use it because they see that we are so concerned that they might do it; that we stop from doing things that Ukraine needs such as providing long-range weapons...After the British and the French provided long-range precision weapons to Ukraine, Russia did nothing. There was nothing they could do. And that's why I think it's just very unlikely.”Ben Hodges21 August 2023
Mélanie Joly“We’re able to see how much we’re isolating the Russian regime right now — because we need to do so economically, politically and diplomatically — and what are the impacts also on society, and how much we’re seeing potential regime change in Russia..The goal is definitely to do that, is to weaken Russia’s ability to launch very difficult attacks against Ukraine. We want also to make sure that Putin and his enablers are held to account.”Mélanie Joly10 March 2023
Roderich Kiesewetter“If Europe wants to complete the energy transition, it needs its own lithium deposits. The largest lithium deposits in Europe are located in the Donetsk-Lugansk region. (...) So we also have completely different goals in the background here. And that is why we need a united effort of citizens so that our policy has the backing to do more for Ukraine....In doing so, it (Ukraine) is waging a proxy war.”Roderich KiesewetterDecember 2023
Patrick Lancaster“I mean the people that were born there before 1956 were born in Russia so it just makes sense to them to go back and then once I was there for the referendum and then once that kind of fizzled off and started calming down once you know Russia was in, and you know you know it was a done deal for pretty much, then Donetsk started to develop so I ended up going to Donetsk here and staying showing the referendum here as well again.

It was a lot different than the west was making it out to see, you know, seeing the fact that there's no Ukrainian language that's spoken here.

There's you know the vast majority of the population is ethnically Russian and they all you know would like to consider this, you know this area part of Russia I mean they definitely do now at that point.”
Patrick Lancaster
Cyrus Janssen
2022
Patrick Lancaster“I mean I'm just I've been working here on this side of the contact line and the anti-Ukraine government territory so I've only been able to show what happened here, but what I've seen here with my own eyes is indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas year after year by Ukrainian forces. Indiscriminate and targeted in fact, just last month (..) two civilian electric plants targeted by Ukrainian forces. (...)

Now that the war is really hot attacks are coming in every hour, and I mean the only thing that's being shown in the west is the results of Russian attacks on Ukraine, but what the west isn't showing is every day here in Donetsk there is attacks from Ukraine controlled territory Ukraine attacking the civilian population here. In the last 12 days there has been 19 civilians killed.

I mean it's not a huge amount like across Ukraine right now but in the last 12 days in the Donetsk people's republic controlled territory there's been 19 civilians killed and I believe 27 injured and these are results of Ukrainian attacks on mostly civilian areas of course battle's been raging on the front line since this new development happened and even before, but so you know a lot of the shells are hitting civilian areas and I assume a lot are hitting military areas as well... Those aren't as free to report on as the other ones.”
Patrick Lancaster
Cyrus Janssen
2022
Anatol Lieven“since 2015 Ukrainian governments and parliaments have refused to take the essential first steps to its implementation....Over the past seven years, U.S. and E.U. sanctions against Russia have also not worked in the slightest to make Russia accept Ukrainian terms for settling the Donbas and Crimean disputes...There is, however, no chance whatsoever that such [Minsk II] solution can rest on the demand of the present Ukrainian government — in effect, to regain the Donbas unconditionally....However, to bring about a peace settlement, it is also necessary to address the factors that brought about the failure of the Minsk II agreement. Chief among these is the Ukrainians' refusal to guarantee permanent full autonomy for the Donbas region....[T]he United States endorsed the Minsk II agreement and has never officially disowned it, since 2015 it has in practice done nothing to help create an actual settlement based on its provisions. Above all, there has been no attempt whatsoever by any of the three U.S. administrations since 2015 to use America’s vast leverage with Ukraine to persuade governments in Kiev to change their approach to the Donbas in the ways necessary to make a settlement possible.”Anatol Lieven
Quincy Institute For Responsible Statecraft
January 2022
Richard Moore“With the tragedy and destruction unfolding so distressingly in Ukraine, we should remember the values and hard won freedoms that distinguish us from Putin, none more than LGBT+ rights. So let’s resume our series of tweets to mark #LGBTHM2022”Richard Moore25 February 2022
Elon Musk“If Putin could so easily humiliate the West, then he would accept the challenge [to fight me]. But he will not.”X
Elon Musk
2022
NATO“We had a moment in history, between 1988 and 1991, where we could have worked with Mikhail Gorbachev to make his vision of perestroika succeed. Instead, we allowed him to fail, without any real plan on how we would live with what emerged from the ruins of the Soviet Union. Save for a short period of time during the Second World War where we needed the Soviet Union to defeat Germany and Japan, we have been in a continual state of political conflict with the Soviet Union. Even after the Soviet Union collapsed, we viewed the Russian Federation more as a defeated enemy that we needed to keep down, than a friend in need of a helping hand up.”Scott Ritter2021
Vladimir Putin“Whoever would try to stop us and further create threats to our country, to our people, should know that Russia’s response will be immediate and lead you to such consequences that you have never faced in your history. We are ready for any outcome.”Vladimir Putin
ThePrint
21 February 2022
Russia/Encirclement“Unfortunately, it’s US “diplomacy” which brought the US, Russia, Ukraine, and NATO to the current standoff. As the Warsaw Pact disintegrated and the Soviet Union collapsed, US encouragement for those events included pledges that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wouldn’t take advantage of the situation to expand eastward. Since then, NATO has inexorably pushed in that direction, nearly doubling the number of member states. Thanks, US “diplomacy.”

Things began coming to a head with the US-sponsored coup in Ukraine that replaced its “Russia-friendly” regime with a “US/Europe-friendly” regime in 2014, courtesy of Barack Obama. Thanks, US “diplomacy.”

Then in 2019, the US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which forbade the US to place missiles within surprise strike distance of Russia, and Russia to place similar missiles within surprise strike distance of NATO. The US followed up by placing exactly such missiles in Poland, courtesy of Donald Trump. Some “diplomacy.”... Then the US went into overdrive (courtesy of Trump and Biden) against the opening of a pipeline (Nord Stream 2) which would have supplied Russian natural gas to Germany. The pipeline would have been a force for peace insofar as Russia likes to sell natural gas (at a fraction of prices the US can offer), and Germans like to not freeze to death.”
Thomas Knapp2021
Russia/Encirclement“We have made it clear that Nato’s move to the east is unacceptable (...) The United States is standing with missiles on our doorstep. Is it an excessive requirement not to install shock systems at our house? How would the Americans react if missiles were placed at the border with Canada or Mexico”The Guardian
Vladimir Putin
2021
Kori Schake“And in addition, even in shrewdly strategic terms, for 5 percent of U.S. Defense spending last year and zero American military casualties, the Ukrainians are destroying the Russian army and that is absolutely in America's interests.”Kori Schake21 May 2023
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer“It is not likely. But he is unpredictable and consumed by resentment and rancour. So, you should not exclude the possibility that he'll be creating a problem between Kaliningrad and Belarus. That area is the gateway from Western Europe to the Baltic countries. If he closes that passage, it would be a reason for war for NATO.”Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
NOS
24 February 2022
Frank-Walter Steinmeier“There are tougher days ahead for us in Germany, too," [The sanctions imposed, he said, would inevitably bring them.] "We will have to be prepared to bear them if our solidarity is not just to be lip service, if it is to be taken seriously.”Frank-Walter Steinmeier27 March 2022
Jens Stoltenberg“Two World Wars and the Cold War has taught us that there is no real security in Europe without a strong transatlantic bond.

Standing together in NATO, Europe and America will continue to keep the peace and protect our democratic way of life. As we have done for more than 70 years.

NATO is a defensive Alliance. We are not threatening Russia or anyone else.

But we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend all Allies.

This is why in response to Russia’s pattern of aggressive actions, we have been strengthening our deterrence and defence across the Alliance.

To avoid any miscalculation or misunderstanding about our ironclad commitment to defend each other.

So if Kremlin’s aim is to have less NATO on Russia’s borders, it will only get more NATO.”
Jens Stoltenberg19 February 2022
Donald Trump“I mean, he’s taking over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. I’d say that’s pretty smart.”Donald Trump2022

 

Known Participants

3 of the 5 of the participants already have pages here:

ParticipantDescription
Belarus"Europe's last dictatorship" - Formerly part of the USSR. Outspoken opposition to the COVID-19 lockdown agenda.
RussiaThe largest nation state in the world
UkraineThe largest country entirely within Europe, a former part of the USSR

 

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Anton Hofreiter
Open letter to US President Joe Biden from European deep state minions, pleading for an escalation in Ukraine, and NATO membership. Lo and behold, a week after the letter, Biden approved F-16s, indicating that the letter was astroturf to make a decision already decided seem like done by European demand...
Includes barely hidden threatening of those that blocked NATO accession in 2008, who bear "a grave responsibility" and "will be careful not to hinder it again."
Document:Faced with Donbass defeat, US and UK up the ante in UkraineArticle8 June 2022Chris NinehamIvan Katchanovski, a Ukrainian professor of political studies at the University of Ottawa, argues: “The US and UK governments show no efforts or desire to achieve peaceful settlement of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”
Document:How Spin and Lies Fuel a Bloody War of Attrition in UkraineArticle13 February 2023Medea Benjamin
Nicolas J. S. Davies
President Eisenhower famously said that only an "alert and knowledgeable citizenry" can "guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. An "alert and knowledgeable citizenry" would surely then demand that our government stop fueling this war and instead support immediate peace negotiations.
Document:Labour left breaks with Jeremy Corbyn over sending weapons to UkraineArticle26 February 2023Toby HelmThe far left wing of the Labour Party has split from Jeremy Corbyn on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Document:NATO goes to war against RussiaStatement1 March 2022World Socialist Web SiteThere must be a new mass anti-war movement, based on the international working class. This opposition, however, must be developed as a conscious political movement for socialism. This means the building of the International Committee of the Fourth International and its affiliated Socialist Equality Parties in every country.
Document:Nato Expansion and Turkeyblog post17 May 2022Craig MurrayThere is another, specifically Turkish interest in play here, which is very much a factor in Erdogan’s willingness to stand up to Biden over Swedish and Finnish NATO entry. This of course relates to the permanent tension between NATO members Turkey and Greece.
Document:Russia is deploying nuclear weapons in Belarus. NATO shouldn’t take the baitArticle24 April 2023Nikolai SokovMoscow regards the United States and Europe as parties to the war; Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared that Russia and the United States are in a “hot phase” of war. These statements elevate the Russian war against Ukraine to the category of a “regional conflict” according to the 2000 and subsequent Russian Military Doctrines – a category that allows for limited use of nuclear weapons.
Document:Russophobia - Reaping the WhirlwindArticleScott RitterVladimir Putin’s order to begin partial mobilisation of Russian military forces continues a confrontation between Russia and a US-led coalition of Western nations that began at the end of the Cold War.
Document:Striving to Make Sense of the Ukraine Warblog post4 April 2022Craig MurrayThese things can be true at the same time: a) The Russian invasion of Ukraine is illegal: Putin is a war criminal; b) The US led invasion of Iraq was illegal: Blair and Bush are war criminals.
Document:The Assange Case Invalidates US Criticisms Of Russia: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative MatrixArticle14 April 2022Caitlin JohnstoneJust the fact that the US and UK are imprisoning a journalist for exposing the war crimes of a war criminal president — just that one fact by itself — completely invalidates all criticisms of Russia from Washington and its allies.
Document:The Great Game in Europearticle8 April 2014Aijaz AhmadIn its eagerness to complete the encirclement of Russia by turning Ukraine into a forward country for positioning NATO bases, the U.S. is paving the way for fraternal genocide and ethnic cleansing.
Document:The Time to Negotiate Peace in Ukraine Is NOWArticle24 October 2022Richard E. RubensteinAre things in Ukraine getting worse? Yes, for both sides. This is precisely the right time to give peace a chance.
Document:The dirty secret Europe is hiding at the COP27 climate summitArticle16 November 2022Jonathan CookGrand declarations at COP27 on tackling the climate emergency are sabotaged by the Energy Charter Treaty from the 1990s that sees European nations held to ransom by the energy companies
Document:Truth and Ukraineblog post2 March 2023Craig MurrayCommentator: "Russia didn't fail to take Kiev in March. It withdrew from Kiev because Zelensky agreed to peace talks. The US, UK and EU opposed the peace talks and Zelensky withdrew from the talks."
Document:Ukraine is the latest neocon disasterArticle27 June 2022Jeffrey SachsThe same neocons who turned the Middle East into a disaster area are now creating a similar catastrophe in Ukraine – for Ukrainians and for the rest of the world, argues Prof Jeffrey Sachs<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a>
Document:Vladimir Putin announces Special Military Operation in UkraineSpeech24 February 2022Vladimir Putin"They did not leave us any other option for defending Russia and our people, other than the one we are forced to use today. In these circumstances, we have to take bold and immediate action. The people’s republics of Donbass have asked Russia for help."
Document:War CrimesArticle9 October 2022Jacob DreizinAn article that was written on the occurrence of the disposal of civilians posted in video by Maksim Zhorin.
Document:What Might A Ukraine Peace Agreement Look Like?blog post13 May 2022Craig MurrayCurrently nobody in power wants peace. It is often impossible to resolve a geographic conflict without some element that can be portrayed as endorsement of ethnic cleansing. These are the problems of peace.
Document:Why Much of the Global South Isn’t Automatically Supporting the West in UkraineArticle28 February 2023Krishen Mehta"The BRICS are not imposing sanctions on Russia nor supplying arms to the opposing side. While Russia is the biggest supplier of energy and foodgrains for the Global South, China remains the biggest supplier of financing and infrastructure projects to them through the Belt and Road Initiative. And now Russia and China are closer than ever before because of the war."
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References

  1. https://www.rt.com/russia/550529-ukraine-war-eight-years-zakharova/
  2. https://www.dw.com/en/nato-why-russia-has-a-problem-with-its-eastward-expansion/a-60891681
  3. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/17/russia-issues-list-demands-tensions-europe-ukraine-nato
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine#Post-Soviet_context
  5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine#Ukrainian_revolution_and_war
  6. COVID panic was at record lows after omicron proved to be far milder, the freedom convoy was inspiring other movements worldwide and and non-commercially-controlled media such as Joe Rogan were reaching an audience of millions with a nuanced explanation of COVID-19/Purposes
  7. https://brandnewtube.com/watch/klaus-schwab-in-2017-quot-merkel-putin-trudeau-were-wef-young-global-leaders-quot_3QqktPo4RDCfzof.html
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20210214235416/https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2145-19/page
  9. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azov_Battalion
  10. https://tass.com/politics/1411067?utm_source=google.com&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=google.com&utm_referrer=google.com
  11. https://web.archive.org/web/20210713133522mp_/http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/copy/66181 in Russian
  12. http://archive.today/2022.02.25-024559/https://www.rbc.ru/politics/15/07/2021/60f0475d9a7947b61f09f4be
  13. http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2022/february/25/washingtons-crocodile-tears-over-ukraines-destruction/ The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity
  14. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj-mNG2iqn2AhUUjaQKHXbVCQ4QFnoECBkQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.yahoo.com%2Fbiden-calls-ukrainians-iranians-during-030525891.html&usg=AOvVaw3oRtkLdG3fCf2Yl532N9Od Yahoo
  15. https://www.finanzen.net/nachricht/aktien/eu-sanktionen-in-kraft-verbreitung-von-rt-und-sputnik-verboten-11096418
  16. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/03/russia-to-expel-german-broadcaster-after-rt-banned-in-germany
  17. https://www.forces.net/ukraine/news/pm-suggests-putin-could-face-war-crimes-charges-over-ukraine
  18. https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/ukraine-crisis-china-russia-war-us-b2022237.html
  19. https://www.inss.org.il/publication/russia-china/
  20. https://web.archive.org/web/20220224153829/https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-russia-china-beijing-c73b5249d313d661ce1836911b1dbc45
  21. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10547981/US-Western-allies-poised-hit-Russia-second-phase-sanctions.html
  22. https://theweek.com/articles/881901/americas-shameful-abuse-ukraine
  23. https://www.finanzen.net/nachricht/aktien/eu-sanktionen-in-kraft-verbreitung-von-rt-und-sputnik-verboten-11096418
  24. https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/18/us-russia-china-war-nato-quadrilateral-security-dialogue/
  25. i.e. Germany: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/waffenlieferung-ukraine-101.html
  26. https://www.rt.com/russia/550546-zelensky-nato-ukraine-neutrality/ RT
  27. https://www.rt.com/russia/550546-zelensky-nato-ukraine-neutrality/
  28. https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/24/russia-war-nato-ukraine-invasion/
  29. https://brandnewtube.com/watch/klaus-schwab-in-2017-quot-merkel-putin-trudeau-were-wef-young-global-leaders-quot_3QqktPo4RDCfzof.html
  30. https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/t3tnp5/vladimir_putin_has_been_removed_from_world/
  31. "If you want to reject energy supplies from Russia, go ahead. We are ready for it. We know where we could redirect the volumes to." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10588905/Putin-threatens-turn-gas-pipeline-Europe-warns-oil-hit-300-barrel.html
  32. Wizards of Money
  33. https://www.dw.com/en/china-a-loan-shark-or-the-good-samaritan/a-48671742
  34. https://www.euronews.com/2022/02/02/germany-bans-russian-state-broadcaster-rt-de-due-to-license-issues
  35. https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Talk:2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine
  36. https://off-guardian.org/2022/02/26/who-planning-new-pandemic-treaty-for-2024
  37. https://anti-empire.com/fsb-is-failing-the-russian-army-state-and-escalation-big-time/
  38. https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1495074996267405312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1495074996267405312%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fanti-empire.com%2Ffsb-is-failing-the-russian-army-state-and-escalation-big-time%2F
  39. a b https://anti-empire.com/so-bad-that-its-good-the-flood-of-fsb-fakery-deserves-an-oscar/
  40. https://twitter.com/Cyberspec1/status/1495142362812538880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1495142362812538880%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fanti-empire.com%2Fso-bad-that-its-good-the-flood-of-fsb-fakery-deserves-an-oscar%2F