The second anniversary of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict： the ＂initiator＂ did not expect …
At the closing of this year’s Munich Security Conference on the 18th, a major development in the front line of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict shocked the western countries that have been intensively discussing how to continue to assist Ukraine in recent days.
According to peskov, Russian Presidential Press Secretary, Russian Defense Minister shoigu and other military leaders reported to President Putin the previous day the progress of the Russian attack on Avdeev Ka, an important defense hub of the Ukrainian army, and finally confirmed that they had completely controlled this strategic town.
The Ukrainian military also confirmed that under the fierce offensive of the Russian army for several months, the Ukrainian army had withdrawn from Avdeev.
Screenshot of CNN report
"A sign that Russia has turned the situation around"
Avdeev Card is considered as one of the most important Ukrainian military fortresses on the front line of Donetsk, along with Bakhmut and Mari upor.
On the second anniversary of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, it is self-evident what its fall means to the Ukrainian army and its western supporters behind it.
The BBC reported that the change of hands in Avdeev may be "a sign that Russia is turning the tables". This has further aggravated the doubts of the West and worried that "Ukraine is no longer possible to win this war".
Screenshot of BBC report
It was unexpected for the west to fight like this.
The reason why this proxy war has been delayed so far is that the United States and its leading NATO have been constantly throwing knives and arches.
Although hundreds of billions of dollars of military aid have been given, the level and lethality of weapons sent to the battlefield have been constantly upgraded, but the Ukrainian counterattack that the West had high hopes for was defeated. The ever-increasing "aid fatigue" has gradually replaced the once-high enthusiasm for arch fire.
Although NATO still keeps shouting "firmness" and "unity", America, the "leading brother", fell off the chain first because of "election year politics".
Due to the refusal of the Republican hardliners headed by former President Trump, the tens of billions of dollars of aid funds applied by the White House for the new fiscal year have been put on hold in Congress.
At the same time, the European Union, which increasingly regards aid to Ukraine as its own priority, is unable to make up for the funding gap after the United States, the largest aid to Ukraine, cut off its supply.
BBC: The United States plays a leading role in providing military aid to Ukraine, but the aid bill is still pending in Congress, and it is difficult for other allies to fill this gap. This means that Avdeev Card may not be the only place in Kiev to consider retreating.
Ukrainian President Zelensky recently blamed the Russian troops’ capture of Avdeev Card on the lack of assistance from the United States and Western countries at the Mu An meeting.
Although the United States can’t count on it for a while, strengthening military aid to Ukraine has still become the focus of this Mu ‘an meeting. Four meetings with the theme of "Ukraine" have been arranged for the two-and-a-half-day meeting.
From NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg to US Vice President Harris, and then to German Chancellor Angela Scholz, all the western leaders attending the meeting "promised" to honor their previous aid commitments to Ukraine.
However, outside the venue, many protests responded angrily.
Demonstrators criticized the United States and its leading NATO as the initiator of the current escalating tension and tried to perpetuate the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. A large number of anti-war activists hold slogans such as "NATO is a war organization" and call for peaceful negotiations and the cessation of war.
"NATO is no longer useful."
Similarly, for the Russian army to capture Avdeev Card, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed in an interview that what happened on the Ukrainian front is only a matter of their tactical position for the West; But it is a "matter of life and death" for Russia.
Tass news agency report screenshot
As for the implication of Putin’s words, Horst Teleschik, the former chairman of the Mu An Conference, may be able to make a footnote with some feelings during the Mu An Conference.
In an interview on the refusal of Russian leaders to attend the Mu An Conference for three consecutive years, Teltschik said that he was still very happy to successfully invite Putin to attend the Mu ‘an Conference in 2007, because Putin’s speech at that time was an important message for the participants. But unfortunately, the west missed the opportunity to establish close ties with Russia.
Screenshot of Sputnik news agency & radio social account
Looking back at the historical latitude and longitude of the relationship between Russia and NATO, it is not difficult to find that it is precisely because of the repeated treachery of the United States and its leading NATO that this "biggest crisis since World War II" occurred in Europe.
On the eve of the end of the Cold War, the United States released the Soviet Union’s guard with the promise of "NATO not expanding eastward", and finally achieved the purpose of dissolving the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, and induced Russia, the main successor of the Soviet Union, to join NATO’s so-called "Peace Partnership Plan".
However, it was not long before the United States led NATO to start a round of eastward expansion, turning all previous commitments into waste paper.
Putin’s speech at the Mu An Conference in 2007 was delivered after NATO’s two rounds of eastward expansion. At that time, he accused NATO’s eastward expansion of "nothing to do with ensuring European security", which was "a serious provocation and lowered the level of mutual trust".
Some media believe that this speech marks a turning point in the relationship between Russia and NATO. The United States and its NATO allies hardly paid attention to Putin’s implicit warning.
Screenshot of France Radio International website report
Since 1999, the United States has strongly advocated the so-called "Russian threat theory", led NATO to expand eastward for six rounds, and expanded its membership from 16 to 31, and finally formed a "Enemy at the Gates"-style strategic encirclement of Russia.
The Ukrainian crisis has escalated in an all-round way. Although the United States and NATO temporarily shelved the once high-profile Ukrainian accession plan for fear of "further angering Russia", the noise about the "Russian threat" has never stopped.
It is in this atmosphere that NATO launched the "Firm Defender 2024", the largest NATO military exercise since the end of the Cold War, last month to cope with "Russia’s possible invasion of NATO in the future".
Screenshot of social media of German delegation in NATO
The enthusiasm of European powers that are already preparing for the "American withdrawal" to "prepare for war" is getting higher and higher.
Among them, Germany’s performance is particularly eye-catching. It not only regards participating in the "Firm Defender" military exercise as the "priority task" of the German army this year, but also adds code to itself after the defense budget has reached the NATO standard of 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024.
German Defense Minister pistorius said at a meeting in Mu An on the 18th local time that Germany’s defense expenditure may exceed NATO standards in the future and increase to 3% to 3.5% of GDP.
Bloomberg report screenshot
Even so, Scholz, who remained basically calm, stressed that Germany is willing to provide support, but it will never let its soldiers appear in Ukraine.
In addition, he also resolutely opposes the US-backed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as the next NATO Secretary-General, because her attitude towards Russia is too "hawkish", which may bring problems to NATO.
Screenshot of "Russia Today" TV website report
Ironically, it is precisely its ally, the United States, that poses a threat to NATO’s future.
A few days ago, Trump publicly threatened at a campaign rally that if he was re-elected, the United States would no longer protect NATO allies who failed to fulfill their military obligations.
This remark caused widespread concern among NATO European member States.
In this regard, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview a few days ago that he is not interested in the dispute between Europe and the United States, but he believes that "NATO has no use and significance. If it means anything, it is just a tool of American foreign policy. "
Tass news agency report screenshot
Source: Global Information Broadcasting "Global Deep Observation"
Planning Wang Jian
Reporter Li Yan
Editor Wang Huan Xing
Signing and examining Wang Jian
Producer Guan Juanjuan