The US must ready itself for a war with Russia, a former Defense Department official has warned, saying that Washington could be obliged to step in militarily if Moscow decides to mount an invasion of Ukraine in the near future.
Evelyn Farkas, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia from 2012-15, published an op-ed in Defense One on Tuesday in which she claimed that an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine is “more likely than not.” The former Obama administration official insisted that diplomatic talks between Moscow and Washington, taking place this week, are likely to fail, and that the US should already be getting ready for war with Russia.
n an echo of the words former President George W. Bush, used to describe the nations invading Iraq in 2003, she called for the US to marshal “an international coalition of the willing” to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin “and, if necessary, prepare for war.”
According to Farkas, Russia fails to abide by international law, and has been emboldened by recent mass protests in Kazakhstan, a neighboring nation and former Soviet republic with which Moscow has close ties. All this, she alleged, makes it more likely than ever that Putin is planning to invade Ukraine.
“If Russia prevails again,” she warned, “we will remain stuck in a crisis not just over Ukraine but about the future of the global order far beyond that country’s borders. Left unrestrained, Putin will move swiftly, grab some land, consolidate his gains, and set his sights on the next satellite state in his long game to restore all the pre-1991 borders: the sphere of geographical influence he deems was unjustly stripped from Great Russia.”
URGENT: RUSSIA DECLARES NATO TALKS "FAILURE" SAYS WILL USE MILITARY MEANS
H Turner
“US-led NATO military bloc has reverted to full Cold War strategy of “containment” towards Russia and seeks “full spectrum dominance” — talks are a fail" according to Russian Foreign Ministry speakers.
Russia made clear before the scheduled meetings that in such an event, it has no choice but to create counter-threats & use "military and military-technical means."
NATO claims they pressed Russia to "prove" they weren't going to invade Ukraine, but got no answer. Yet the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Grushko said that Ukraine was discussed with NATO, the Russian Federation has a clear position: "If Minsk-2 is fulfilled, there will be no threats to the territorial integrity of Ukraine."
Of course this is in reference to the two sets of agreements hammered out in Minsk years ago, of which Ukraine has performed a total of ZERO of the commitments it made in those meetings. One interesting commitment Ukraine made was to negotiate directly with the leaders of (breakaway) Luhanks and Donetsk. Ukraine now flatly refuses to talk to those oblasts (states) and wants instead to negotiate with Russia.
Russia says this is a problem within Ukraine and they cannot negotiate for states within Ukraine, so Kiev must talk to their own states; which Kiev refuses to do.
Those two states (oblasts) want to leave Ukraine and join Russia. Ukraine refuses to allow it, and sent the Ukraine Army to forcibly restrain the two states back in 2014, which is how the whole military buildup on both sides began.
So unless and until Ukraine meets its obligations under the Minsk and Minsk 2 agreements, this situation will never get better. It will only grow worse.
UPDATE 2:53 PM EST --
US Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine has just issued the following ALERT: "Concerning reports of further unusual Russian military activity near Ukraine’s borders and in Crimea continue, and US citizens are reminded the security conditions may change with little or no notice."
MORE:
The US Air Force is now running E-8 Intelligence-gathering aircraft in a track-like surveillance of Russian activities in Crimea and western Russia:
Now seeing ** a LOT ** of Russian military hardware on the move from eastern and central Russia towards the west. Multiple trainloads of tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery, and missile launchers. Emphsis on ** a LOT **
Russian Deputy FM Grushko: "Russia-NATO relations are at a critically low level. We have made it clear that their further deterioration carries serious risks."
In an unusual and late-issued statement at 11:30 PM Moscow, Russia, time, the Russia Foreign Ministry says "Moscow and NATO do not have a "unifying positive agenda at all," following NATO-Russia talks."
Grushko: Russia put forward its draft treaty and today called on NATO allies to put forward its proposals (in writing). Then it will be clear what sort of negotiation formats are possible going forward.
“I think we managed to convey to the members of the [NATO] Alliance that the situation is becoming intolerable. And that at some point, the risks associated with continuing the same course of NATO may outweigh the advantages," Grushko said.
Russia & NATO fail to find common ground – Moscow
NATO Seeks to 'Contain' Russia, There's 'No Room for Common Positive Agenda,' Top Diplomat Says
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