Hans Petter treffer klokkerent idag.
https://euromaidanpress.com/2022/03/22/war-in-ukraine-day-27-un-to-vote-for-humanitarian-aid-for-ukraine/?fbclid=IwAR3MgXfiS9w3OIF0tyWfcYkcPCnY-bTKSQlKc5UPwNHEvAPE16rRdwBTnFQ&__cf_chl_tk=iNW4OnfminTtlmuOFYmdTFlJ5LojhHjnBXQVcm5mMrI-1647991271-0-gaNycGzNCz0
Russia crossed the Ukrainian red line in 2014. Russia has declared its red lines, which some interprets as “the eastward expansion of NATO”, “Ukrainian NATO membership”, “NATOs military involvement in Ukraine” or even “the West’s delivery of defensive weapons to Ukraine”. There are several variants to the Russian red lines, all equally inaccurate.
Its real red line is “NATO should not start defending itself”.
The realities are that Russia has been constantly crossing what should have been NATO red lines for years already, triggering an extremely limited response only. The West has been subject to a Russian hybrid war since at least 2014. This includes multiple cyber-attacks against the NATO and EU members, restrictions on freedom of navigation, jamming of GPS signals, liquidation of individuals on European soil, attempt to meddle in referendums and elections across the West, and not at least, influence operations and an intense disinformation campaign. The list is long.
On top of this, NATO has been told to withdraw its forces and weapons from parts of its area of responsibility. Russia has in principle told NATO to refrain from operating in the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Barents Sea and the Arctic, as well as the airspace over Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The USA has been told to withdraw its nuclear weapons and eliminate all existing infrastructure on the continent. Additionally, the alliance has been designated as an existential threat and has recently been threatened with the use of nuclear weapons.
We are in a remarkable situation. Russia sees NATO as an existential threat. NATO and the EU have been actively exposed to its hybrid war for more than 8 years. Russia believes it is exposed to an economic and information war by the West. It sees our defence aid to Ukraine as a hostile act.
Despite all of this, we are holding back in the fear that Russia might believe we are a party to the conflict and stubbornly rejecting the notion that the democratic world is under assault by Russia. We are avoiding engaging to stop the “war in Ukraine” from becoming a wider conflict even though the war has been just that for years: A wider conflict. This has been the reality since 2014 already. Russia knows it. Ukraine knows it. And NATO might just be coming to grips with this reality.