Stoltenberg Visits Kyiv For The First Time Since The Russian Invasion
He states that Ukraine will become a member of NATO
A day before the 11th Ramstein meeting, Stoltenberg finally visits Ukraine, and pays his respects at Bucha. He also makes a declaration that the Russians never wanted to hear, and that is that Ukraine WILL become a member of NATO as all the allies states have agreed to this. That isn’t what Stoltenberg said several months ago, but of course we have Orban of Hungary that challenges the statement with a ‘What?’ simply proving that Hungary should have its membership of NATO and the EU suspended until after the war has ended. Zelenskyy needs it in writing though, and a roadmap and plan towards membership to make the statement have any validity.
As a historian, it is clear that Hungary is impeding the allies and their actions are prolonging the war, yet there has been little action from NATO or the EU to call them to account.
How will Russia react? One if their conditions for ‘peace’ was for Ukraine to never join NATO or any military alliance, so Stoltenberg’s statement can only have infuriated Putin.
The Ramstein was a meeting of about 50 allies states who had convened to discuss the tank coalition, setting up a repair centre in Poland, and of course discussion on the jets that Ukraine needs.
To date, 60 countries have agreed to assist in the reconstruction of Ukraine. The country will require long term investment to rebuild the economy as well as rebuilding homes and infrastructure. The threat of war draws closer as NATO appears to publicly state that Ukraine will be a member of NATO to try and deter the Russians.
Day 421 (20 April)
Stoltenberg for NATO made an unannounced visit to Ukraine where he held talks with Zelenskyy, and paid his respects at Bucha. The position on Ukraine’s NATO membership has changed, and Stoltenberg has gone from the door being open when the time is right, to Ukraine will be a member as all countries have already agreed to this. As usual, Hungary appears to object, but Stoltenberg was referring to Hungary’s vote back in 2008 where only France and Germany objected, and where they have now appeared to agree to Ukraine’s application with an invitation to join. However, can we trust Macron and Scholz whose meddling and their failures to act last year led to Ukraine having insufficient weapons to defend itself?
Zelenskyy has been invited to the NATO Summit in Vilnius on 11-12 July 2023, where Ukrainian membership will be top of the agenda. He also said that he expected security guarantees to be discussed and adopted (in writing and signed) at the summit.
There is no objective barrier that would prevent the adoption of political decisions on inviting Ukraine to the alliance. (Zelenskyy)
The 5 EU countries that have issues with Ukrainian grain (Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania) have been sent a letter from von der Leyen to address the matter. The EU has released €100 million to assist farmers who have been affected by the Ukrainian grain imports. The current bans are temporary and would only last until the end of June according to reports.
Russia (Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation) has stated that if South Korea provided military aid to Ukraine, then Russian would transfer weapons to North Korea. Again, it’s another threat, and surely Russia needs all the weapons it can get and I doubt North Korea needs any from them.
Zelenskyy visited a border region yesterday of Volyn, where Belarus, Poland, and Ukraine meet. He inspected the measure to the borders as Belarus is showing its hand in effectively fighting for Russia.
Germany has delivered the second of four IRIS-T air defence systems as well as the Patriot system. Suddenly, Germany is supplying weapons after dithering for months and being criticised by their own citizens (who mounted protests) and other countries for failing to do more to help Ukraine.
Switzerland has declined to join REPO (Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs) task force, stating their neutral status. This is because many Russian assets are hidden in Swiss bank accounts, and by freezing them it would stop Russia from funding the war
The G7 is looking at a way to ban all Russian exports, rather than only sanctioned items. Basically, sanctions have taken too long to work and the Russians found ways to bypass the sanctions.
Kyiv City Council voted to terminate the land lease agreement with the Russian embassy in Kyiv. Effectively, it means that the Russians will have to leave and that there will be no embassy in Ukraine for now.
Day 422 (21 April)
Among the Discord leaks are thoughts on Bakhmut, where the US believed that Bakhmut would fall and advised Ukraine to ‘give up’ the region. This isn’t news but corroborates what has been said and suggested by the analysts. There was also talk of the US holding back on supplying aid if Ukraine didn’t withdraw from Bakhmut, and there was delay in agreeing to supply tanks. Then more innocents died, and countries finally agreed to supply tanks because they really had no reason not to send the tanks.
The 11th Ramstein was held on the US airbase, where the tank coalition was being coordinated, and discussions on the jets was discussed, as well other issues such as training and assistance programs. This is the first anniversary of the meetings.
Let me be clear, Ukraine is rightful place is in the Euro Atlantic family. Ukraine's rightful place is in NATO. (Stoltenberg)
Russia has reiterated that a key point of the special military operation was to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO. Previously, Stoltenberg had been vague in his comments on Ukraine joining NATO, but has today stated that membership will happen.
A Russian Su-34 accidentally bombed the Russian border city of Belgorod. Reports claim it was headed for Kharkiv (a daily target), and the Kremlin have admitted the bombing was caused by their own plane.
Albania will be cancelling their visa free scheme for Russians. Visas must now be applied for, stating the reason for their visit.
In Russia, military summonses were handed out in student dorms ahead of graduation. This means that they must report to a military enlistment office to be conscripted. Most students had expected this as reports had stated that the Kremlin were looking to recruit soldiers quickly by forcing them to graduate early (students were exempt from mobilisation), and it looks as if there is another official mobilisation despite what Putin said a few months ago.
Sanctions are working with India at least because the Russians won’t trade in rupees (too unstable as a currency) and India can’t pay Russia as there is no payment system that doesn’t involve US sanctions. India can’t purchase rubles at a fair rate, so at least the sanctions are working in part.