“NATO’s eastern flank…” is also Russia’s western flank.
NATO (aka USA) has surrounded Russia in the north with it’s recent addition of Finland and Sweden. USA is attempting to close off Russia in the Caucasus. Former SECSTATE Blinken and SECDEF Austin both stated publicly that the actual reason for the Ukraine war is to close off Russia’s southern flank, weaken Russia militarily and economically, depose Putin, and, ultimately, to break up Russia into smaller countries that would be easier to control.
When Russia agreed to the unification of Germany, then SECSTATE James Baker promised Gorbachev that “not an inch of NATO’s present military jurisdiction will spread in an eastern direction.” (Official transcript from the National Security Archive, other contemporary accounts differ slightly) That promise was broken almost immediately and has continued to be broken as US Russiaphobes and Cold War neocon hacks have continued to strangle Russia.
Perhaps not incidentally, “while many in Western Europe and North America focus on the Western Front, World War II was truly won and lost in the East. The scale of fighting in the Soviet Union (USSR) was enormous, with the country suffering more casualties than any other. Furthermore, by winning the war, the USSR positioned itself as a significant power in the post-war period.” (worldatlas.com)
Like the US, Russia has legitimate geopolitical concerns about military activity on and near to its borders. Remember the Cuban missile crisis? How many Russian (or Chinese for that matter) military installations exist within a thousand miles of USA? Two thousand? Do you really expect Putin to put out the welcome mat for NATO efforts to strangle his country geographically, economically, and militarily?
“NATO’s eastern flank…” is also Russia’s western flank.
NATO (aka USA) has surrounded Russia in the north with it’s recent addition of Finland and Sweden. USA is attempting to close off Russia in the Caucasus. Former SECSTATE Blinken and SECDEF Austin both stated publicly that the actual reason for the Ukraine war is to close off Russia’s southern flank, weaken Russia militarily and economically, depose Putin, and, ultimately, to break up Russia into smaller countries that would be easier to control.
When Russia agreed to the unification of Germany, then SECSTATE James Baker promised Gorbachev that “not an inch of NATO’s present military jurisdiction will spread in an eastern direction.” (Official transcript from the National Security Archive, other contemporary accounts differ slightly) That promise was broken almost immediately and has continued to be broken as US Russiaphobes and Cold War neocon hacks have continued to strangle Russia.
Perhaps not incidentally, “while many in Western Europe and North America focus on the Western Front, World War II was truly won and lost in the East. The scale of fighting in the Soviet Union (USSR) was enormous, with the country suffering more casualties than any other. Furthermore, by winning the war, the USSR positioned itself as a significant power in the post-war period.” (worldatlas.com)
Like the US, Russia has legitimate geopolitical concerns about military activity on and near to its borders. Remember the Cuban missile crisis? How many Russian (or Chinese for that matter) military installations exist within a thousand miles of USA? Two thousand? Do you really expect Putin to put out the welcome mat for NATO efforts to strangle his country geographically, economically, and militarily?