NATO’s Second-In-Command Says Russia Is Now An ENEMY, Not A Partner

NATO’s second-in-command says Russia is now an enemy, not a partner (RT, May 1, 2014):

NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow now says that the allied group has been compelled to treat Russia “as more of an enemy than a partner,” according to an Associated Press report published Thursday.

The 61-year-old former United States ambassador to Russia reportedly told journalists this week that Moscow’s role in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine has forced NATO to reconsider the alliance’s opinion on Russia, and that additional troops may soon be mobilized to the region as tensions worsen.

AP journalist Robert Burns wrote on Thursday that Vershbow said the Kremlin’s perceived part in the recent events in Ukraine “marks a turning point in decades of effort by NATO to draw Moscow closer.”

NATO’s second-in-command reportedly told journalists that the alliance is now considering new measures meant to counter any future acts of aggression on the part of Russia aimed at partner nations, and soon could deploy a larger number of combat forces to Eastern Europe.

Journalists reporting for Civil.Ge wrote on Thursday that Vershbow told the audience at a panel discussion in Washington, DC one day earlier that NATO should deploy “defensive assets to the region.”

“We need to step up our support for defense reforms and military modernization of Russia’s neighbors, and not just of Ukraine, but also Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan,” Vershbow said, according to the Civil Georgia site.

NATO should think about “upgrading” joint exercises among partner nations, the site quoted Vershbow as saying during the event, while acknowledging that deploying forces to Georgia would be a “controversial” maneuver.

“It is also important for the United States to show leadership… to make sure that next steps that NATO will make, for example at the summit in September, will be adequate response to what’s happening in Ukraine,” the Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Alasania said during the discussion.

“The West should now seize the opportunity and create the reality on the ground by accepting membership of aspirant countries, by putting purely defensive assets in aspirant countries and predominantly in Georgia,” Alasania added. “What is important now is to put some deterrent capabilities on the ground like air defense and anti-armor capabilities that will give us a chance to defend our freedom, because we know that if things go wrong at this point no one is coming to save us; we’ve seen that in 2008.”

Earlier this week, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said the builduip of NATO troops near Russia’s border was “unprecedented.” Weeks earlier, the US Air Force commander in charge of NATO’s military presence in Europe said that US troops may soon be deployed to the region as tensions continue to worsen near the border between Ukraine and Russia.

For weeks now, officials in Washington and Kiev have claimed that the recent separation of Crimea from Ukraine and the rash of uprisings in the country’s eastern part are the direct result of destabilization efforts spearheaded by Moscow, and both the US and European Union have introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia as a result. The Kremlin has refuted these claims and rebuffed the sanctions, however, and earlier this week Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin accused the White House of orchestrating the Ukrainian crisis.

“I think what is happening now shows us who really was mastering the process from the beginning. But in the beginning, the United States preferred to remain in the shadow,” Putin said this week.

4 thoughts on “NATO’s Second-In-Command Says Russia Is Now An ENEMY, Not A Partner”

  1. Russia was only an ally while the NATO conmen believed they had convinced it to give everything up and let in the GlobalCorps to rape it of its assets.Like they did with the rest of the world.

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  2. The US wants a world war with Russia. Might divert the people from some truth at home. 20% of Americans go hungry at some time each month while Congress cuts food stamps and prices continue to skyrocket thanks to the falling value of the dollar.
    NATO might make noise, but they won’t go against Russia, either. Just the US folk, nobody else. The US cannot even get the UK, or Israel on their side, they are both very silent on the subject……they don’t want a world war. Russia can and will strike back, not in the Ukraine, which has been part of Russia for many years, but right here in the USA. Putin won’t screw around, and Russia has the military might to hit back hard. The US prefers to bully nations that cannot fight back, and many of these nations will cheer Russia, and help them all they can.
    What has happened to our statesmen, our smart leaders, our true diplomacy? Now, we have a gaggle of fools in power who annoy everyone. You don’t win friends or influence people by bullying or threats.
    As for US sanctions, they are a joke. Russia and China stopped using the dollar in November of 2010. About half the world no longer uses the dollar. I have been to countries that don’t use the dollar, and our currency has no power there. Now, it is finally being felt at home.
    Do these fools think a world war will make people forget they are hungry, unemployed and underpaid? This is pure madness.
    That idiot in the White House is a Manchurian Candidate, and the US voters bought him, mainly because his so-called opponents were so awful. The vote is a total joke in any case, thanks to Citizens United ruling by the most corrupt and rotten supreme court in US history.
    When it comes to Putin, Obama is like a madman. Regardless he has no coalition, no support and no reason, he is pushing for WW3……and he might just get it.
    Short of a miracle…..like his resignation……I see a world war in the very near future. Also, I guarantee the US will lose If Putin hits the US directly, it might give Obama an opportunity to set up a military dictatorship, NDAA made it very easy to do.
    Wars are planned over years, they don’t just happen. Terrifying but true.

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  3. To Squodgy: Making Russia an ally after they had broken into smaller, weaker nations made sense. I attended a Russian art show in 1989, the first one ever made public straight from the Kremlin. It was amazing. Before 1914, they had jewel encrusted plates, Faberge Eggs and other pieces, and some magnificent works of art in gold and silver. After 1917, the art completely changed…..this is why I think Art really reflects what is going on in a society. No more Faberge eggs, or jeweled plates, wild paintings and other stuff expressing all types of anger and passion. The modern stuff for sale was beautiful to look at, but the materials used were cheap…..very interesting reflection of Russia.
    I studied Russian history, of course, being a history major, and they have suffered the most painful and harsh history I have read about. Those people are tough, and they can and will put up with a lot for a specific goal. Their music is beautiful, passionate and sad. It was the same with the art.
    I don’t think the US has a prayer against Russia. It is reforming and reuniting, and their people are not soft, like ours. They can and will put up with a lot, and if the US attacks them, they are behind Putin, because he appears to be listening to the people, not some greedy guts in the back room. He is smart enough to realize he needs the people more than the greedy guts to achieve his goal…….Restoration of the great power Russia used to be. The people want it, and so does he.
    I am not saying greedy guts are not a part of this, I wish they were not, but Putin is a billionaire in his own right, and I am sure they have a place at the table. I hope he is smart enough to keep them at bay.

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  4. Yes. Muslim Brotherhood is our friend, along with the iranians now. Anyone see the videos of HIS allies in death chants against him?

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