04/09/2014
Edward Leigh was yesterday morning telling the BBC Radio 4
Today programme that NATO should concentrate on defending NATO, but should make no moves to bring Ukraine into the fold. "That would be a very dangerous thing to do", he said. I don't think for a moment that Russia is going to attack any existing NATO country.
"My personal view", Leigh added, "is that we should balance any moves to the west ether to the EU or NATO with convincing the Russians that we have no desire to take Ukraine out of Russia's traditional orbit and any moves to the EU for instance should be balanced by moves to Russia".
As the NATO summit is geared to start in Newport, S. Wales, and
Obama is already calling for NATO support of the Ukrainian military, we thus find ourselves supporting strange bedfellows.
Not only do we agree with Leigh, but up pops
Seumas Milne, who tells us that, far from keeping the peace, NATO is a threat to it. It was the prospect of Ukraine being drawn into the western military alliance that triggered conflict in the first place, he says, adding:
It's not necessary to have any sympathy for Putin's oligarchic authoritarianism to recognise that NATO and the EU, not Russia, sparked this crisis â and that it's the western powers that are resisting the negotiated settlement that is the only way out, for fear of appearing weak.
Putin's people, however, have created their own reality on the ground. Day after day, Ukrainian troops have been thrashed, and the Army is falling apart. The Russian president, therefore, is
in a position to call the shots, leaving NATO members with little more to do than posture.
However, they are just stupid enough to do something rash, prolonging the agony and preventing a settlement. Having mishandled the situation right from the beginning, there is nothing to suggest that they are ready to learn any lessons.
With the overnight news coming in, though, there will be some glum faces in Newport. With the pictures worth thousands of words (example above), we hear of the Ukrainian army suffering a "total defeat" by the Russian forces north of Luhansk, with soldiers deserting their tanks after crushing MLRS attacks on their sleeping area.
Whatever the rhetoric, NATO leaders have no hand to play. Kiev remains as the seat of the Ukrainian government only because Putin has decided not to snuff it out. Without even committing to battle, NATO has suffered a humiliating defeat, and all that remains for it is to try and salvage something useful from the experience.
