Ukraine Will Be a Problem Member of NATO

French General Michel Yakovleff admits it's NATO's war

“NATO's job is, for the next 20 years, to sort out chaos in Europe."

That's what retired General Michel Yakovleff said on French TV last night. Through an example of Ukraine being potentially problematic, he admitted that it's NATO's war.

Yakovleff was previously on duty in NATO's command centre in Europe. He was on France24 for a debate with Ivo Daalder (former US Ambassador to NATO and President of the Chicago Council), Samantha de Bendern (Chatham House fellow and ex-NATO officer), and George Kuzmanovic (President Republique Souveraine party).

The debate was a prelude to NATO's meeting today and tomorrow, in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was framed as 'King of NATO? Biden and the Fate of the War in Ukraine', but was meant to be more marketing than debate. But the plan of three ex-members of NATO versus a barely known politician took an interesting twist that had little to do with the topic of Biden's infirmity (which we already know).

TRUTH LEAKS

The important part happened near the end when Yakovleff expressed his dismay that NATO was being short-sighted, making decisions about today's issues instead of those relating to Europe's future.

Whilst he promoted Ukraine's inclusion in NATO, he issued a strong warning at its mishandling:

"NATO's job is, for the next 20 years, to sort out chaos in Europe. And what is it doing? Discussing F16s or F35s or ammunition of a given type.

When Ukraine will eventually become a member of NATO, it will be a completely different member of NATO.

Of the 31 members today, half started their career as partners of NATO, and they entered NATO as supplicants, with both hands up towards the sky, saying 'Please take me and I will behave'.

With Ukraine, it will be completely different. They will become a member of NATO, one day, and they will say 'We are entitled to be a member of NATO. We have done NATO's war! No one else has done NATO's war. We have the strongest military in Europe, the most competent military in Europe. You're the ones who are going to take lessons from us.'

So, I call for Ukraine, as soon as possible, to become a member of NATO, but NATO must stop this myopic view...

What the Ukrainians say is that they want security guarantees in case of resumption of conflict. That's their words, heard in Kiev last week. And what's interesting is that 'resumption' means cessation. There's no notion of resumption if there hasn't been a cessation. So the question becomes, what does Ukraine call an acceptable cessation of conflict? And that is their issue, is their call. It's not NATO's.

So NATO's there waiting for Ukraine to decide, and then, in case of resumption, we will discuss Article 5, where does it apply and so on.

But NATO's going into a discussion, a summit to discuss what they going to do after tomorrow. I can't believe it.

Samantha de Bendern (Chatham House fellow and ex-NATO officer) indirectly agreed that it was NATO's war, stating that:

"The West and NATO needs to stop being afraid of Russia. It needs to stand up and start setting the agenda, and not let Russia set the agenda which Russia does every single time, and the West bows or reacts. It's time for the West to say we're going to set the agenda in Europe, where we all live."

George Kuzmanovic pointed out what should have been obvious:

"It's not Russia who decided to put anti-missiles in Chechnya, Romania and Poland... which was considered by Russia, maybe they're wrong, as a nuclear threat. So they put their own nuclear weapons in Kalingrad, which is a problem when you're European, I think. I'm not sure that escalating war, with Russia, who has 6000 nuclear warheads, is a good idea."

THINK TANKS?

To further express that it was not meant to be a debate, let alone useful to truthseeking readers, you should know more about the participants.

Michel Yakovleff was the former Vice Chief of Staff at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Belgium. Yakovleff received training in the USA and ran the Tyrhennia online strategy course. Most of his career was in the Foreign Legion, France's more successful version of Russia's Wagner mercenaries.

Historically interesting, the first time the Foreign Legion fought in Europe was in the Crimean War 1853-1856. It's poignant that France, the UK and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) defeated Russia then.

In 2021, Yakovleff stated in an interview that:

The French don't believe that the Russians intend to attack Europe, end of story... Also from the French perspective, Russia is part of Europe. The Putin regime will die one day. There's a difference between making an enemy of Russia and confronting Putin. That is what Angela Merkel calls strategic patience. The French consider that Russia should be given a real role in Europe, that would correspond to its historical weight and role in Europe, but that also depends on their values. It's important not to make an enemy of Russia more than it is already and I'm saying that for future generations. Don't pick a fight that you can do without.

Ivo Daalder's Chicago Council on Global Affairs is a biased 'think tank' that has featured warmongers such as Tony Blair, Hillary Clinton and Margaret Thatcher. It cancelled Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt from speaking about their book,'The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy'. I use Mearsheimer as example because he’s the most notable intellectual who warned of what would happen to Ukraine if the USA and NATO interfered. It’s almost satirical that he delivered that speech, now seen 29 million times on Youtube, in Chicago.

Samantha de Bender's Chatham House is a London based 'think tank' co-founded by an American president. It has received funding from the UK and Japanese governments. They had Queen Elizabeth II award the first Chatham House Prize to Viktor Yushchenko in 2005. He was Ukraine's president, and, before that, its Governor of the Central Bank. Ukraine was being wooed into the EU and NATO. Eurovision was held in Ukraine that same year whilst Yushchenko was promising to get rid of Russia' Black Sea navy in Crimea.

George Kuzmanovic is the leader of France's minor Republique Souveraine party. Le Monde newspaper described him as "coming from a Trotskyist background" and having been the previous adviser to left-wing president candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

INTERESTING SIDENOTE

NATO's meeting is being held in Vilnius, the second biggest city in the Baltic States that run along Russia's border. Germany's state television's latest documentary is about Vilnius, shot just before and after Russia invaded Ukraine.

In one segment, it's ironic to hear residents complaining about migrants when its NATO's illegal wars in the Middle East that has propelled Europe's migrant crisis.

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