Putin does the unthinkable

The invasion of Ukraine and the war that Kreml begun February 24 is an attack on the entire European collective of nation states, goes against international law and indeed common sense. 

  • Putin does the unthinkable
    A dark day for Europe and the world. The invasion of Ukraine and the war that Kreml begun February 24 is an attack on the entire European collective of nation states - and will likely be perceived as such. It goes against international law and indeed common sense. It is simply inconceivable. And yet, this is a war Ukraine will have to fight largely on its own. No Nato forces can be part of this war against Russia the aggressor. Europe and the democratic nations will simply have to rely on economic sanctions and indirect support of the Ukraine people.
    Putin’s and Russia’s first actions - sending “peacekeeping” troops into Ukranian territory - were a blatant assertion that Ukraine has no right to be its own country. Ukraine’s president, Volodomyr Zelensky’s immediate reaction was “Ukraine doesn’t want war but also won’t hand over the regions in the east.” But, the leadership of Ukraine is powerless on its own against Russia’s aggression. Putin would like to see all former Soviet territories once again aligned under Russia and will not stop at the annexation of the two small regions of eastern Ukraine, neither at all of Ukraine. On February 24, the Lithuanian president Giana's Nausea proclaimed a state of emergency for Lithuania based on Russia's aggression (All three Baltic states are members of EU and members of Nato.)
    Former Prime Minister and former Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who recently visited Ukraine and was present at the European conference in Munich, offered two interesting observations in Swedish media. First, how the EU nations and the United States have never been more aligned, never as much in harmony as in recent weeks, which bides well for future actions and future cooperation. Bildt also did not completely discount a future Swedish involvement to directly support Ukranian resistance or show its direct support through admitting troops to the Baltic states.
    Sweden will in the near future participate in a military exercise with the Joint Expeditionary Force in the Baltic Sea area. The Joint Expeditionary Force consists of the UK, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway alongside Sweden. According to Sweden's Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvist, the Ukraine crisis has made the exercise increasingly urgent.