The continued escalation of tensions and the possible full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation has put not just Europe but the entire world on edge.
For more than a month, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, had steadily been piling troops and armaments at his country’s border with Ukraine, conducting military drills and striking postures which the West interprets as preparations for a full-scale invasion.
The United States of America, the leader of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, and its allies have also been sending troops and ammunition to nearby member countries and threatening severe consequences for Russia if it carries out the perceived threat.
Read Also: Why Did Russia Invade Ukraine? The Conflict Explained In 10 Points
Though Russia claims not to have any intention of invading Ukraine, it has lately sent troops into the pro-Russian separatist Donbas region consisting of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Putin claims his troops are there “for peacekeeping”.
Putin is a former KGB operative during the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR, era.
Though Russia is no longer strictly a socialist state, Putin is a leader steeped in basic Soviet reflexes.
In his over 20 years in power, he has steadily rebuilt the military might of Russia at huge costs to the economy. Since the collapse of the USSR, many of the countries that were part of the Soviet Warsaw Pact socialist nations have adopted capitalism and embraced the membership of NATO.
Read Also: Why Did Russia Invade Ukraine? The Conflict Explained In 10 Points
Ukraine is the latest eyeing NATO membership, but Putin will have none of that. He still sees Ukraine as historically part of Russia in that they share so much in common in terms of languages, culture and civic attitudes (dictatorial democracy).
Putin believes that Ukraine in NATO is the final humiliation of Russia. Ukraine in NATO could also ultimately see Western missiles in Russian backyard aimed at Moscow. The aggressive action Putin is taking is likened to a similar response of President John F. Kennedy when Soviet missiles were being erected in Cuba in 1961.
He forced USSR’s Nikita Kruschev to quickly remove the missiles and leave the Caribbean nation.Putin or any other Soviet-style Russian leader will definitely invade Ukraine once they join NATO.
Just like Cuba, Ukraine can choose to adopt everything else Western but definitely not NATO. Being within the soft belly of a military superpower opposed to NATO, Ukraine does not have the luxury of independent action as a sovereign nation when it comes to joining NATO.
We call on Ukraine to stay away from NATO, for now, and avoid war. We also caution Putin to rein-in his hunger for military conflicts.
Read Also: Why Did Russia Invade Ukraine? The Conflict Explained In 10 Points
A war will definitely spill beyond the borders of Russia and Ukraine with disastrous consequences that are impossible to foresee.
Any war involving the nuclear-armed big powers could suddenly provoke nuclear exchanges that could exterminate all life on earth or leave the earth ecologically damaged beyond human repair.
Let diplomacy lead.
0 Comments