THE WASHINGTON NATO SUMMIT DID NOT OFFER A PLAN FOR UKRAINE.

Joe Biden presided over the Washington NATO Summit in the American capital from July 9th to July 11th. Concerns over the Russian-Ukrainian War dominated it. Biden touted his achievements during the summit that many countries pledged weapons to Ukraine. According to the summit, a new NATO-Ukraine Command, staffed with 700 people, will be deployed in Germany to reinforce Ukraine’s military capabilities against Russia. Other measures were announced during the summit to bolster Ukraine’s security. However, Ukraine’s future membership in NATO was not discussed nor formally approved. Biden still opposes this policy. In principle, as demonstrated by the latest NATO summit, the Western Alliance still does not have a plan for Ukraine to enable| Kyiv to win the war against Russia or to declare a ceasefire and inaugurate a peace process that could end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

President Biden agreed to give Ukraine five strategic air defense systems, especially their power plants, to protect Ukrainian cities. It was also announced that both Denmark and the Netherlands would transfer the American-made F-16 fighters to Ukraine. Ukrainian pilots are expected to be able to fly them and use them to attack Russian targets by the end of the summer of 2024.

[https://www.reuters.com/world/f-16-jets-being-sent-ukraine-denmark-netherlands-blinken-says-2024-07-10/]. Belgium and Norway have also pledged to transfer their F-16 military jets to Ukraine. That promised aircraft transfer has so far reached a figure of 79 military planes, including 19 from Denmark alone.

[https://www.yahoo.com/news/depends-circumstances-danish-pm-says-104923479.html?guccounter=1].

President Biden said in his press conference right after the summit, “During the week of this summit, several heads of state made it a point in their statements to thank the United States and me personally for all that NATO has achieved. NATO is not only stronger; NATO is bigger because we led the charge to bring Finland and Sweden into the Alliance. It makes a gigantic difference.” Nevertheless, there was no strategic consensus over supporting Ukraine during the Washington summit. President Erdogan of Turkey and Hungary’s Prime Minister Orban spoke about the “possibilities of peace,” and right after the summit, Orban went to meet with former U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida.

[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/12/hungarys-viktor-orban-meets-trump-at-mar-a-lago-for-peace-mission-5-0].

Moreover, following the summit, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said on his Facebook page, “I understand Ukraine’s wishes; it is a sovereign country, but Ukraine’s membership in NATO is just a guarantee of World War III.”

[https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-nato-membership-war-slovakian-prime-minister-robert-fico-nato-summit-washington-dc/.]

A simple reply to President Biden’s claims of the success of the NATO Washington Summit is that these military pledges by NATO members are not enough to defeat Russia. The declarations against Russia at the Washington NATO Summit are not a coherent strategy against President Vladimir Putin. It does not imply that the collapse of the Putin regime is fast approaching. It positions the Russian-Ukrainian War as an endless conflict. Russia will not willingly withdraw from the land it occupied from Ukraine during the war as a result of the Washington summit. And the scenario of either one of the combatants backing down and stopping the fight unilaterally is not a potential outcome.

A plan for Ukraine means a practical, long-range guide to policy and action to help that country win its war against Russia. That was not offered during the latest NATO summit in Washington. A game plan for Ukraine should have been a well-organized scheme on how the West could assist Ukraine in defeating Russia geopolitically and strategically. The Washington NATO Summit failed to do so.

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