Thursday, March 23, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion Columns Backbencher by Rod Kapunan

Russia’s red line for US and NATO

Rod KapunanbyRod Kapunan
January 22, 2022, 12:15 am
in Backbencher by Rod Kapunan, Columns, Opinion
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

“This is what I think is really happening in Ukraine.”

Part I

The world today is confused about which of the countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will the West refer to as allies in the event Russia invades Ukraine. This has become complicated because the heightened tension between the US and Russia is centered on that former Soviet Republic.

NATO general secretary Jens Stoltenberg is insisting the alliance is obligated to defend Ukraine when today, that former Soviet state has yet to become a member. He insists that it is the right of Ukraine to choose which bloc it wishes to align itself to, it being a right of a sovereign and independent state. Unfortunately, he failed to mention the business the British warship was doing off the coast of the Black Sea except to stalk at the Russian naval base in Sevastopol. UK is a member of NATO but it has no business patrolling that sea as if to act on behalf of the alliance.

ADVERTISEMENT

Prior to the current crisis, the US has been instigating social unrest in Ukraine. The unrest culminated in the overthrow of the legitimately- elected President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. That was followed by a flurry of anti-Russian resentment. The drumbeating for Ukraine to join NATO stepped up. That agitation intensified, reaching its peak in a coup dubbed as “colored revolution” but actually supported by the CIA using its front organization, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) to make it appear as a popular civilian uprising. That resulted in the shooting of several protesters at the center of Maidan Square. The protesters called their political action “revolution of dignity.”

That protest ended in bloodbath killing about 130 civilians including 18 police officers by unidentified gunmen. President Viktor Yanukovych had to flee for his safety. No investigation was conducted nor arrests were made to get the perpetrators of the massacre. Many suspect those involved were snipers from the Azov battalion, a neo-Nazi front purposely created to overthrow Yanukovych.

The bloodbath was immediately followed by anti-Russian hysteria. Without the Ukrainians having an inkling that the US and its co-conspirators would be carrying out a massive de-industrialization program for their country. Then US ambassador to Ukraine Victoria Nuland, together with Senator John McCain joined the crowd in celebrating their “victory.” Nuland was seen handing goodies like what the US GIs did in their liberated areas during World War II.

US policy makers then began to press Ukraine to join NATO. That move endangered the lives of the local Russians living in the Eastern provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk. Because of intense anti-Russian resentment, the two provinces promptly declared independence. The new government scrapped the Russian language, abolished all Russian newspapers and desecrated monuments and memorials erected in honor of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers that liberated Ukraine against the Nazi occupation. On top of it, the US-installed government elevated as hero Stepan Bandera, a neo-Nazi disguised as nationalist which many Ukrainian and Russians very much resented.

Ukraine was divided into several parts like what the West did in Sudan, Somalia, and Libya, and each controlled by oligarchs. The de-industrialization could be seen in how the US-installed government dismantled Ukraine’s heavy industries built during the Soviet era. Ukraine was the manufacturer of the biggest aircraft engines that produced Antonov An-124, the biggest air transport in the world. The engine manufacturer, Motor Zitch, was later sold to China, only to backout because the West opposed the sale until the company was closed down.

The same was done when Ukraine imposed exorbitant transit fees to Russia’s natural gas passing Ukraine to Western Europe. Germany offered Russia an alternative of constructing a pipeline passing through to the Baltic Sea. The project known as Nord Stream 2 is today being imperiled as the US wants to block the pipeline, though it is just awaiting final approval by the German government.

NATO secretary general Jen Stoltenberg must bear in mind that Ukraine is not a member of the military alliance. If Russia should invade Ukraine, strictly speaking NATO cannot come to its side as an ally. The alliance will only come to Ukraine’s defense if it is a member. If NATO violates the red line imposed by Russia, the countdown for war is now ticking. Many observe NATOs’ supply of arms and the arrival of military advisers in Ukraine is a recipe for miscalculation. One cannot say a proxy war is in the offing but that could not be discounted to spill over into nuclear conflagration. Russia’s red line should serve as a warning to that and crossing the red line poses a threat to Russia’s security.

The West failed to analyze why Russia will not invade Ukraine. US and NATO ignored that Russia has much to lose if it invades Ukraine. A war in Ukraine would affect a sizable number of the Russian-speaking population living in that country, and could destroy the huge investment it poured in to help that country during the Soviet era. Besides, the West failed to take into account the importance of historical roots that bind the two countries. Lest they forget, Ukraine and Russia are Slavic- speaking countries and their affinity is deeper than the US propaganda of democracy and freedom.

On the other hand, the US is mainly interested in selling arms to sustain the demands of its arms industry and the money generated out of war. The enticement to join the alliance is merely to add color and decoration to its quest for power and hegemony to keep alive a dying empire. Even if the US and its allies insist it was Russia that first occupied Crimea to justify its narrative of aggression, they forgot that Crimea historically belongs to Russia.

That portion of the Crimean Peninsula was handed to Ukraine during the leadership of Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev. Incidentally, Khrushchev was a Ukrainian who denounced and de-Stalinize the deceased Soviet wartime leader who is from Georgia, another state of the Soviet federation that has been creating trouble for Russia. Khrushchev’s handing of Crimea to Ukraine was without the approval of the Supreme Soviet, the highest lawmaking body of the defunct Soviet Republics.

Russia wanted Crimea back because it needed an outlet for its naval ships from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The current Russian base of Sevastopol is the interest why Russia wanted to take back what historically belonged to them, and focus Western interest to Central Asia. The turmoil in Kazakhstan cannot be discounted as an isolated incident.

Thus, the circumstances behind the events that are happening in Ukraine could not be said that NATO did not put pressure on that country to join the alliance, and maybe expected to be rewarded a naval base in exchange for a showdown with Russia. With Russia putting a deadline for the West to comply to its demands, the bell is now ticking as who will give way to Russia’s demands to put to an end to NATO’s eastward expansion, to dismantle its military infrastructure, and to remove all nuclear weapons in Western Europe, Turkey, Japan and South Korea that now encircle Russia.

Tags: Jens StoltenbergNorth Atlantic Treaty OrganizationSoviet RepublicUkraine
ADVERTISEMENT
Rod Kapunan

Rod Kapunan

Related Posts

Infrastructure binge

byManila Standard
March 23, 2023, 12:15 am
0
8
Infrastructure binge

One of the main reasons foreign investors hesitate to bring their money into the country, apart from red tape, corruption,...

Read more

Pinakbet, atbp.

byLito Banayo
March 23, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8
A crisis president

"I suggest we change these (adobo or lechon as national food) to pinakbet, which after all is served everywhere in...

Read more

FVR’s 95th birth anniversary

byFlorencio Fianza
March 23, 2023, 12:05 am
0
8
Money matters

"When FVR died a few months ago, the country did not only lose a true patriot but also a quintessential...

Read more

Hong Kong asylum seekers fear deportation under tightened policy

byAFP
March 23, 2023, 12:00 am
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

"But Hong Kong’s new rules mean that an asylum seeker has, in effect, just one shot at making their case...

Read more

The wheels of justice on Degamo’s slay

byManila Standard
March 22, 2023, 12:15 am
0
8
The wheels of justice on Degamo’s slay

Looks like the wheels of justice are grinding well on schedule in the March 4 killing of Negros Oriental Governor...

Read more

Upholding the rule of law

byErnesto M. Hilario
March 22, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8
Denying Villafuerte justice

"Prosecuting the mastermind(s) and the actual perpetrators in the brazen assassination of Governor Degamo will send strong message that the...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • ATLAS CONSOLIDATED MINING AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: Notice of Annual Stockholders’ Meeting
  • MANILA WATER COMPANY, INC.: Notice of Annual Stockholders’ Meeting
  • Sneakers for Makati : AB4.0
  • Teves suspended for 60 days
  • DOJ says 5 or 6 directly planned Degamo slay, brains known soon
  • House passed 23 priority bills, says Speaker
  • President: New EDCA sites scattered around PH
  • 23 cracks on ship’s surface counted, option to plug or siphon oil raised

Advertisement

Latest News

House passed 23 priority bills, says Speaker

byMaricel Cruz
March 23, 2023, 1:00 am
0
8
President: New EDCA sites scattered around PH

The House of Representatives succeeded in approving on third and final reading 23 of 31 bills identified by the Legislative-Executive...

Read more

President: New EDCA sites scattered around PH

byVince Lopezand2 others
March 23, 2023, 12:50 am
0
8
President: New EDCA sites scattered around PH

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said Wednesday the four new military bases that US troops may use under the Enhanced...

Read more

23 cracks on ship’s surface counted, option to plug or siphon oil raised

byVince Lopezand1 others
March 23, 2023, 12:40 am
0
8
Sunken tanker no sail permit

The Japanese remotely operated vehicle (ROV) tasked to find the sunken tanker that caused a massive oil spill off Oriental...

Read more

Marcos defends devolution review

byVince Lopezand1 others
March 23, 2023, 12:30 am
0
8
Journalist, former UP CMC dean Luis Teodoro passes away at 81

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday defended his decision to review his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s devolution order of national government...

Read more

PH hires int’l lawyer to appeal ICC drug war probe

byManila Standard
March 23, 2023, 12:20 am
0
8

The Philippines has hired an international lawyer to help the country in its appeal to the International Criminal Court (ICC)...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App