• ProfessorOwl_PhD [any]
        ·
        1 month ago

        According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg;

        The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn’t sign that.

        The opposite happened. He wanted us to sign that promise, never to enlarge NATO. He wanted us to remove our military infrastructure in all Allies that have joined NATO since 1997, meaning half of NATO, all the Central and Eastern Europe, we should remove NATO from that part of our Alliance, introducing some kind of B, or second class membership. We rejected that.

        So he went to war to prevent NATO, more NATO, close to his borders.

        Transcript

        I know you think you're very clever for not buying into such obvious russian disinformation, but they don't need to lie about stuff like this. Start doing a bit more research instead of taking news at face value.

        • Zamundaaa@discuss.tchncs.de
          ·
          1 month ago

          That is not NATO starting any war, anyone wirh the reading comprehension of a six year old understands that. Don't fall for Russian propaganda, FFS.

          • ProfessorOwl_PhD [any]
            ·
            1 month ago

            Uh, sure, but we're not 6 year olds anymore, so you should be able to grasp the larger geopolitical implications of a specifically anti-Russian alliance continuing to further enlarge and spread into countries bordering Russia. Remember when the US innocently moved a few nukes to Turkey and it resulted in the Cuban Missile Crisis?

        • notabot@lemm.ee
          ·
          1 month ago

          So, you're saying that Putin sent demands to NATO, saying they either bend to his will by removing their protection from a large portion of their member states or he'd start a war, and by not signing it NATO are responsible for starting the war? I just want to fully understand your position on this.

          • ProfessorOwl_PhD [any]
            ·
            1 month ago

            removing their protection

            Oh please, please do tell me about NATO's defensive operations. I promise you it's not a trick, there is at least one NATO operation that took place on the soil of a member state.
            Then we can talk about all of NATO's invasions of non-member states and take a look at how reasonable it is to demand that a group that have specifically designated you as their enemy withdraw from bordering states.

            • notabot@lemm.ee
              ·
              1 month ago

              NATO's having a presence in a member state is protection. It reduces the chance of opportunists like Putin invading.

              Putin tried to call NATO's bluff, using Ukraine as a bargaining chip. NATO didn't blink, and so he started a war. He doesn't get to do the abuser thing of saying "see what you made me do". This is on him, and him alone.

              He can demand that NATO withdraw all he likes, and I'd have some sympathy for that if it didn't involve invading another country as leverage. Note, I say some sympathy, not that NATO should actually do it, especially as Putin's regieme has threatened other countries already.

      • LesbianLiberty [she/her]
        ·
        1 month ago

        Famously conflict only happens when burly guys with guns show up to a place, no other form of conflict exists. Not political warfare, not economic warfare, not even social warfare. No. It's all guys with guns.