In panic, NATO now inching towards open war with Russia

THE success of Russia’s ‘Special Military Operation’ (SMO) in eastern Ukraine, this time capturing the strategic industrial city of Avdiivka (Avdeyevka) in the Donetsk region last February 19, 2024, resulted to massive panic in the capitals of Western Europe, with French President Emmanuel Macron openly voicing the sending of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) troops to Ukraine and German Air Force (Luftwaffe) officers caught discussing ways to launch terrorist attacks in Russia, particularly, blowing up the Kerch bridge connecting Russia and the Crimea.

In a statement last February 26 in Paris, during a hastily called “crisis meeting” of EU leaders due to Ukraine’s collapsing military effort highlighted by the Avdiivka debacle, Macron, the BBC reported, told the gathering:

“We should not exclude that there might be a need for security that then justifies some elements of deployment (of NATO troops to Ukraine).”

However, Macron’s bellicose statement did not elicit support from other NATO leaders who, although as much as ‘gung-ho’ on Russia like Macron, are mindful of Russia’s threat not to hesitate in using its nuclear arsenal to incinerate Western Europe and the United States, should they march NATO troops into Ukraine.

A day after Macron’s statement, the White House issued a statement saying the US is not considering sending ground troops to Ukraine. “President Biden has been clear that the US will not send troops to fight in Ukraine,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said, as quoted by Reuters.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also reminded Macron that right after the start of the SMO, they agreed that “there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European states or NATO states.”

In an interview last March 9, 2024, while on a visit to Germany, UK Foreign Minister David Cameroon said he also opposed the sending of any UK troops to Ukraine “even for training purposes.”

German Chancellor Scholz is also being flogged by the UK and France for revealing recently that soldiers from France, UK and America are active inside Ukraine and are in fact the ones operating the long-range missiles they sent to Ukraine such as the ‘Storm Shadow’ cruise missiles, JDAMS and the Patriot and HIMARS defense systems used to strike at civilian targets and other acts of terrorism inside Russian territory.

For his part, even Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, said the alliance has “no plan” to send troops to fight Russia in Ukraine.

Lying thru their teeth, as usual

However, NATO and the US may just be playing to the gallery as regards the presence of American and NATO troops fighting side by side with the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF).

Around March last year, the so-called ‘Pentagon Leaks’ already revealed the presence in Ukraine of ‘special forces’ from the UK, USA, Latvia, France, and The Netherlands, totaling nearly 100 personnel.

German Chancellor Scholz is also being flogged by the UK and France for revealing recently that soldiers from France, UK and America are active inside Ukraine and are in fact the ones operating the long-range missiles they sent to Ukraine such as the ‘Storm Shadow’ cruise missiles, JDAMS and the Patriot and HIMARS defense systems used to strike at civilian targets and other acts of terrorism inside Russian territory. The UK said Scholz’s revelation is a “flagrant abuse of intelligence.”

Scholz revelation also came on the heel of his statement opposing the sending of Germany’s ‘Taurus’ cruise missiles to Ukraine, wary of being targeted by Russia for “directly” participating with other NATO countries in targeting Russia.

However, Scholz’s position was undermined after the release of a 38-minutes telephone conversation last February 19 of top German Air Force generals talking about the sending of the Taurus missiles to Ukraine and using it for a terrorist campaign against Russia, particularly the blowing up of the Kerch bridge. The bridge is the main link between Russia and the Crimea, which rejoined its motherland in 2014.

The leaked conversation also again confirmed the presence of French, British and American soldiers in Ukraine. Significantly, the discussion took place on the day Russia announced its capture of Avdiivka.

‘Wave the white flag,’ Pope tells Zelensky

In another indication that even the heavens only see disaster for Ukraine, Pope Francis said the time has come for Ukraine President Volodimir Zelensky to “wave the white flag” and have the “courage” to “negotiate” for peace with Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

In a widely reported comment by the Western mainstream media such as Reuters and CBS News,

Pope Francis said Zelensky “should have the courage to negotiate an end to the war with Russia and not be ashamed to sit at the same table to carry out peace talks,” according to CBS News.

The pope made his appeal during a recorded interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI, some of parts of which was released to the world last March 9, 2024.

“I think that the strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates,” Pope Francis said.

Ironically, parts of his interview were released a day before he greeted Ukraine Catholics carrying Ukraine flags at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

Pope Francis said in the RSI interview that “the word negotiate is a courageous word.”

“When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate,” he said. “Negotiations are never a surrender.”

The Pope also reminded that some countries have offered to act as mediators in the conflict.

“Today, for example, in the war in Ukraine, there are many who want to mediate,” he said. “Turkey has offered itself for this. And others. Do not be ashamed to negotiate before things get worse.”

Pope Francis is leader of the world’s largest religion, Catholicism, which has over 1.34 billion believers.

His call for Zelensky to surrender came barely a year after they met at the Vatican and gave his blessings to Zelensky prior to the start of Ukraine’s ‘summer offensive’ that, however, failed miserably.