Welcome to the peace initiative for Ukraine in which you can contibute by raising your awareness as well as your consciousness[+] and spirit to the modes[+] of neutrality[*], decency, respectfulness, wisdom[*], objectivity, mastery of the intellect, surrender (ego and mind to God’s will), and finally peace (inner then outer). To properly grasp everything, we recommend reading the articles of this peace initiative in the order that we[*] designed it, which is listed in the CONTENTS. So if you haven’t read the previous articles, we urge you to do it, please. With this article we continue the “Meeting the Demands for Ending the War” segment with a focus on Why should Ukraine guarantee that it would not join NATO?
Let’s stop lying to ourselves. The war in Ukraine wasn’t the product of Putin's madness, or delusion, or some freakish return of 19th-century imperialism. It was the result of power politics – pure, predictable, and avoidable. NATO expansion predictably provoked Russia’s military response. Anyone still denying that is either dishonest or historically illiterate.
Before we list many pieces of evidence of NATO provocations, let us briefly explain why did NATO provoke Russian attack:
➡ Russia has been main NATO enemy since the Cold War, which never really ended, especially because Russia (with China) has been ruining many NATO efforts of regime change across the world in their globalist, neocolonialist agenda of total world domination. For instance, Russia thwarted NATO plans to expand to Ukraine and Georgia, to change the regime in Syria, and to exploit and plunder natural resources of many African, Latin American, Middle Eastern nations bullied by NATO. NATO wanted to control the Black Sea region, which is a major trade route, for which they needed Ukraine and Georgia to join the alliance, as well as to control the Crimea but Russia hindered it all. Therefore, to retake Crimea and get Ukraine and Georgia to join the alliance, NATO has prepped Ukraine to attack and kill Russians ever since 2014, for which we provide below plenty evidence as it is no secret[+] anyway. But because modern wars are fought not just on the battlefields but also in the minds of supporters and enemies, NATO didn’t want their puppet Kyiv regime1 to strike first, as they needed “a Russian invasion” as a proof of “evil wannabe emperor Putin” to garner a world's support and condemnation of Putin and Russia, so that they could demand the world to sanction Russia and provide weapons and other aid to Ukraine.
➡ One of major obstacles to realize the NATO agenda of Black Sea domination and weakening Russia was the fact that the vast majority of Ukrainians, over 80%[+] of them did not want to join NATO before 2014, as they favored Russia over NATO. This is due to over 8 million[+] ethnic Russians living in Ukraine and 6 more millions speaking Russian as their native language (30%[+] of Ukrainians – 14,3 million people declared Russian as their native language in the last national census) but also because of Ukraine's strong historical, cultural, religious, social, and economic ties with Russia. All polls[+] showed the public disapproval, which is why NATO needed to change the public opinion by provoking Russia to invade Ukraine. Without it, Ukrainians would never agree to join NATO and let NATO (American) troops to occupy Crimea where mostly ethnic Russians live. The plan worked, as the subsequent polls showed a spike in support for joining NATO, which is also due to the fact that they did not poll “occupied” regions where most of the people opposing NATO live. Therefore, there was no opposition when Zelensky applied to join NATO after Russia annexed for new regions after local referendums.
➡ Another major obstacles to realize the NATO agenda of Black Sea and world domination was their rivals such as Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and some other nations. By weakening or containing Russia, NATO would have achieved their agenda, as other rivals depended on Russia's support.
Before we get on with the whole list of NATO provocations, here is Russian foreign minister Lavrov explaining[»] how Biden’s State Secretary Blinken provoked the war in Ukraine! When asked about no NATO enlargement for Ukraine, Blinken said that USA will deploy IRMBs in Ukraine. So, Blinken told the Russians that USA will deploy missiles to Russia’s border.
So, here are NATO provocations (in chronological order):
➡ NATO’s relentless eastward expansion[+] despite explicit promises by every 1990 Western leader (Baker, Bush, Genscher, Kohl, Gates, Mitterrand, Thatcher, Hurd, Major, Woerner…[+][+][+pg.6]) that such expansion would never occur if Russia accepted German reunification, withdrew its troops from Eastern Europe, and dissolved the Warsaw Pact. Russia honored its part of the deal while NATO violated it and so brokemutual trust and cooperation as well as destabilized the security situation in Europe.
In May 2025, the flagship publication for the US Democratic Party, globalists, neocons, and neoliberals that used to endorse the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the New York Times2 finally let the cat out of the bag by acknowledging[+] that NATO expansion contributed to the Ukraine war– an epiphany coinciding with a shift in the Oval Office😊. Better late than never, we suppose. One plus one is two after all – who knew?😊 Hurrah, looks like they've finally solved the chicken and egg dilemma – they used to say that NATO expands because of Russian aggression but now they say Russian aggression is due to NATO expansion. Good to know😊. Only, eggs turned into an omelette rather than chicken. Oops. They flipped the script like a seasoned chef flipping an omelette😊. As the political landscape shifts, these NAFO fellas who used to scream slogans like “unprovoked invasion” now reposition themselves as the perennial arbiters of truth, ever adapting to the prevailing winds. A masterclass in synchronized swimming. Could that plot twist worthy of a geopolitical thriller be a chess move to "win the battle of narratives" – shuffling positions to safeguard their supposed kingmaker status? Or kissing up to the obvious victors as “winner takes all” to reclaim credibility? Well, business as usual. He who pays the piper calls the tune. But how long can they sit in two chairs with one butt before their readers call their bluff?😊
In June 2025, US National Security Journal followed up with a piece[+] titled “NATO Expansion ‘Lit the Fuse’ on the Ukraine War”. It explains how after the Cold War, Washington, under a new administration presided by Bill "I did not have sexual relations with that woman"[+] Clinton decided that it could expand a military alliance without consequence. The logic was triumphalist as the US then claimed the victory and reckoned that Russia simply had to suck it up and accept that NATO would not stand by its word of not moving an inch eastward and will instead keep absorbing states formerly under Moscow’s thumb. When objections and warnings were raised, they were dismissed. Ukraine was the final straw. For Moscow, it wasn’t just another post-Soviet republic. It was the linchpin – the symbolic and strategic frontier. In 2008, NATO declared that Ukraine and Georgia “will become a member.” That declaration was a turning point. Just days later, Russia helped two Georgian regions to declare independence, and a few years later, in 2014, provoked by a NATO-backed coup in Kyiv, Russia took Crimea away from Ukraine, too. But NATO would not back down but it doubled down, which is why Ukraine lost four more regions. Russia offered peace talks, NATO-puppet Zelensky refused, thus Russia is in the process of taking a few more regions. Not because Putin lost his mind, but because he calculated – correctly – that NATO was closing in, that Ukraine was slipping out of Russia’s orbit, and that the West lacked the stomach to stop him. How many more regions does Ukraine need to loose before NATO and Kyiv learn not to mess with Russia or Putin?
“What the West did was worse than provocation. It was provocation without protection. We encouraged Ukraine’s westward drift. We armed and trained its forces. We drew it into NATO’s institutional and operational orbit – but refused to extend full membership, refused to trigger Article 5. We created a client, not an ally. And we left it dangling. Ukraine got all the exposure and none of the shield... The West told itself a story: that NATO was a force for peace; that it was defensive, benevolent, and value-neutral. It treated NATO expansion like a technicality – something no rational state could oppose. But in the real world, states don’t care about your intentions. They react to capabilities, alignments, and encroachment. And in Russia’s eyes, NATO’s behavior looked like a military coalition absorbing its neighbors and threatening to swallow what remained of its buffer zone. Not a values-based club, but a slow-motion siege. This wasn’t just Russia being paranoid. It was Russia being rational. In international politics, great powers don’t let rival alliances expand freely into their near abroad. The United States certainly wouldn’t. Imagine a Chinese military alliance incorporating Mexico or Canada. It wouldn’t even get close. But we expected Russia to accept NATO on its doorstep – and even worse, to accept Ukraine, the keystone, joining the Western camp permanently. And here’s the kicker: the lesson hasn’t been learned. The West still refuses to accept that this war was the outcome of its own strategic blindness. Instead, it recycles moralistic slogans, blaming the war entirely on authoritarianism or “civilizational conflict.”… What’s needed now is restraint, not because restraint is soft or idealistic, but because it’s the only position grounded in strategic sanity. We cannot keep expanding alliance networks and ignoring the blowback. We cannot keep treating every non-aligned state as territory to be absorbed into “the West.” And we cannot pretend that nuclear-armed powers will indefinitely tolerate being boxed in without reacting. Ukraine was the consequence of ignoring all of this. It was the price of forgetting how great powers behave. The war didn’t start because of some spontaneous imperial spasm. It started because we pushed too far, too fast, and expected there would be no consequences.” – National Security Journal
In 1997, then-Sen. Joe Biden said[»] that the only thing that could provoke a "vigorous and hostile" Russian response would be needless NATO expansion far East right till the border of Russia. So, he knew very well that he and his predecessors were provoking Russia but did it anyway while crookedly calling Russian response “unprovoked invasion” counting on his crowd having short memory.
Anyway, here is the pathway to Ukraine war as far as NATO expansion is concerned:
in 1999, NATO expanded to the Russian borders with Poland (as well as Czech Republic and Hungary) becoming a member of the military alliance despite the promises not to expand an inch to the East. Poland and Russia’s exclave Kaliningrad share a 232 km (144 mi) long border.
in 2004, NATO expanded to the Russian borders with Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia (as well as Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia) becoming members of the military alliance despite the promises.
in February 2007, Putin gave his Munich Security Conference speech[»] in which he condemns US aggressive unilateralism, including its illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq and its NATO expansion eastward. He said: “We have the right to ask: against whom is this [NATO] expansion intended? And what happened to the assurances our western partners made after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact? Where are those declarations today? No one even remembers them.” A year after his speech, in 2008, NATO says Ukraine and Georgia will become members. Four other former Warsaw Pact states join in 2009. A crisis in Georgia erupts four months later leading to a brief war with Russia, which the European Union blames on provocation from Georgia.
in 2009, Albania and Croatia, in 2017 Montenegro, and in 2020 North Macedonia were lured into the fold provoking Russia ever more.
➡ NATO’s encirclement of Russia[+] – How would the US or any other NATO state feel and react if Russia or/and China did the same to them, if they encircled them with hostile military bases full of weapons and troops? For comparison, just a few incidents with nothing but mere mystery balloons and reconnaissance drones (suspected foreign spying or surveillance) has already got the US[+] and Sweden[+][»] in such a panic mode as if facing an existential crisis resorting to some anxious counter-measures! What if the Russians came fully loaded to their borders? Russians compare it to the Cuban missile crisis in 1962[+] when American deployments of missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of similar ballistic missiles in Cuba – just as the US panicked having nuclear missiles off the Florida coast just minutes away from Washington, so was Moscow’s reaction being faced with the prospect of having NATO’s offensive strike missiles in Ukraine and other countries across their borders. No one called JFK paranoid about the threat of Russian missiles in Cuba whereas Putin, on the other hand, is ridiculed for being threatened by the American navy and missiles nearby.
American military bases all around Russia
➡ Ukraine is made into a de facto a NATO member as it has hosted more NATO military exercises than most other NATO countries, although officially it is not a NATO member at all and because the Armed Forces of Ukraine participated in the NATO's wars such as Iraq War (2003 to 2008)[+][+] and Afghanistan War (2001-2014, the ISAF mission)[+] , as former CIA analyst Larry Johnson explains here[+][»][+].
The process of making Ukraine a de facto member of NATO started in March 1992, a few months after Ukraine left the Soviet Union (August 2021), when Ukraine joined the NATO’s Cooperation Council (NACC) in 1992, and in 1995, Ukraine has become a de facto member of NATO by hosting its first NATO military exercise, though 1994 marked the first year that Ukrainian forces participated twice in NATO exercises that were held in Poland and the Netherlands.
Under controversial, highly-corrupt, and scandalous[+] pro-EU[+] President Kuchma (July 1994 –January 2005), who was the first to officially raise the possibility of membership of the alliance, Ukraine hosted its first NATO military exercise in 1995, called “Peace Shield” under the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program and took place at the Yavoriv training site near Lviv in western Ukraine, which NATO began using as a military base. Since then, every year, Ukraine hosted dozens of NATO military exercises[+][+][+]. “Peace Shield” was then designated[+] as “Rapid Trident” (trident[+], a three-pronged spear, is the Ukrainian coat of arms[+]) since 2005, after Kuchma steeped down and the US installed its puppet Yushchenko as President in 2005 by orchestrating and funding the Orange revolution. As if Ukraine has not been part of Europe, under the pretense of it being “an important step toward Ukraine’s European integration”[+], in July 2005[+], Ukraine has started hosting the American-funded "Rapid Trident"[+] series of military exercises every year[2013-2021][2010][2011][2012], most notably since the US and NATO reinstalled their puppets in Ukrainian government again through a yet another revolution (because the first revolutionary US-puppet government failed to hold on to power) – yet another regime change operation orchestrated by NATO. No wonder that in early March 2022, Russia hit Yavarov with hypersonic missiles and killed a bunch of foreign military personnel. Furthermore, in July 1998, NATO’s annual “Sea Breeze”, and in June-July 2000, Cooperative Partner-2000[+], large naval, air, and amphibious exercises had been hosted by Ukraine in the Black Sea.
So, Ukraine has hosted more military exercises than 22 other NATO countries, Ukraine. Think about that. How in God's name is Ukraine one of the major hosts for NATO exercises when it's not a member of NATO? In 1999, despite their promises[+pg.6] to Gorbachev in 1990 "no extension of NATO's jurisdiction for forces of NATO one inch to the east"[+], NATO indeed expanded to the East by luring the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland into it, and then in 2004, also Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, in 2009, Albania and Croatia, in 2017 Montenegro and in 2020 North Macedonia. None of these countries were threatened by Russia by any means, so the only reason why they joined anti-Russian NATO military alliance was because NATO has bribed their corrupt politicians and media representatives into creating Russophobia. The Russian army was not increasing in size, it was diminishing in size. From 1991 to 2011, the Russian military decreased in size by 2/3 – it went from 3,5 million to 1,3 reserves, which clearly indicates they had no intent to attack any country or to supposedly “recreate the Soviet Union or Russian empire”. Rather it is the other way around – Russia is not the country with 700 plus military bases scattered around the world; it is US! NATO has been increasing and expanding to bolster the US military industrial complex with its greedy war profiteers as well as to secure the US hegemony in the world. In the 1990s, the US defense budget was under $300 billion a year[+], and now it has tripled to a trillion, filling the pockets of the US arm manufacturers and dealers whose major stock shares are held by the US politicians! It is in their self-enrichment interest to expand NATO and have forever wars! No one ever has threatened to attack the US but their so-called defense budget is rapidly growing – explain that! The scam is to sell the weapons to all these new and old NATO partners, who need to buy US weapons to adjust to NATO standards and ensure “interoperability”[+][+] as well as an enemy to fear, thus Russophobia was boosted with fake narratives both through media and history revisionism. No one was allowed to know that Russian military was actually shrinking because they would lose the plot and huge profits.
➡ NATO's recognition of Kosovo's independence in February 2008 (taking Kosovo from Serbia, infringing on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia), provoked Russia to recognize Ukraine's republics that also claimed independence and suffered humanitarian crises, such as Crimea, Donetsk People's Republic, and the Luhansk People's Republic in 2014
➡ in 2008, NATO officially opened door for Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO[+] agreeing that they will become members of NATO, which was well known at the time to be “crossing a red line” with Russia – this was like a red rag to a bull or poking a bear, a total provocation. Putin said[+] that the West provoked the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine by luring Kyiv with the prospect of NATO membership in 2008, which drastically changed the security situation on the continent. Washington (George W. Bush administration) provoked the conflict when during 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest the US-led NATO promised[»] Ukraine to accept its application to join NATO.A couple of months earlier in 2008, in anticipation of that, Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov (a.k.a. diplomatic rockstar[»]) warned the CIA head that this would trigger a civil war in Ukraine and that Russia would have to intervene militarily ("take appropriate measures") so, NATO knew it and did it anyway as a clear provocation (thanks to Wikileaks, we have now cables proving that[+]). Lavrov warned that NATO's promise to take in Ukraine and Georgia engendered serious concerns about the consequences for stability in the region, which was NATO's violation of the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security between NATO and the Russian Federation[+], under which the alliance pledged to strengthen mutual trust and cooperation as well as committed to building a stable, peaceful, and undivided Europe.
➡ NATO's offensives destabilized the security situation in Europe posing a threat to Russia – by bombarding other countries that are insubordinate to the US or Western agenda like Russia. Among many other, NATO bombarded former Yugoslavia in 2000 and some countries across NATO borders like Libya and Syria.
➡ NATO orchestrated and funded regime changes in Russia (2011-2013[+], 2017/2018[+], 2019[+], 2021[+]) and Eastern Europe, including countries across Russia’s borders, toppling pro-Russian governments with violent US-funded, CIA-staged[+] coups or color revolutions[+], despite pledging[+] in 1997 to “strengthen mutual trust and cooperation” and committing to “building a stable, peaceful, and undivided Europe”. These include regime change in Serbia in 2000, the Rose Revolution[+] in Georgia in 2003, the Tulip Revolution[+][+][+][+] in Kyrgyzstan in 2005, in Ukraine Orange Revolution[*][+] in 2004/2005 and Maidan Revolution[+] in 2013/2014, Velvet Revolution[+] in Armenia in 2018, in Romania in 2017-2019[+], in Bulgaria in 2013[+] and 2020/2021[+], as well as failed attempts, besides in Russia, also in Belarus in 2005[+], 2006[+], 2011[+], 2017[+], and 2020/2021[+][+], Moldova in 2005[+] and 2009[+], Hungary in 2006[+], 2011[+], 2014[+], 2018[+], and 2024[»], Turkey in 2016[+] and 2023[+][+], Kazakhstan in 2022[+], Georgia in 2023[+]and 2024[+][+][+], Serbia in 2023[+][+]and 2025[+], Slovakia in 2025[+][+]… After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, millions of Russians living in former Soviet Republics found themselves living in foreign countries and being absorbed by the Western powers imposing Western socio-political system, ultraliberal values, and discriminating against the Russians, as well as killing and terrorizing them.
➡ US and EU involvement in the 2013/2014 protests and revolution[*][*] that forcefully deposed Ukraine’s democratically elected President of Russian ethnicity and installed a US puppet anti-Russian regime that has been very hostile to Russian ethnic minorities, banning their language, repressing, terrorizing, and killing them
Since 2013, NATO has been arming Ukraine first to stage a coup to overthrow a pro-Russian government and then to kill Russians living in Ukraine, therefore in 2014, Russia felt compelled to protect its interests (Russian navy fleet) and folk in Crimea by legally and peacefully annexing Crimea as requested by Crimeans through a democratic referendum whereby Crimeans exercised their right to self-determination as enshrined in the UN Charter.
➡ Ukraine has increasingly come to host NATO military infrastructure[+], including a military base[+] that frequently hosted NATO troops, plans[+] for NATO-linked naval bases, a surge[+] in military aid ― including, as of 2017, offensive weapons ― training programs[+], an updated Charter on Strategic Partnership[+] that deepened its security co-operation with Washington, as well as heightened security co-operation with NATO more generally[+]. The US presence in the region has also intensified, leading to thousands of incidents[+] between NATO and Russian forces and “envelope-pushing missions”[+] involving Ukraine that drew Russian objections, and which some experts feared had “become too provocative.”
➡ from 2014–2021, NATO has been training and providing weapons to Ukraine for the sole purpose of fighting and killing the Russians, which was a major NATO provocation. In 2014, Ukraine became a de facto member of NATO when NATO started to provide Ukraine with funds, weapons, and military training, which destroyed mutual trust and cooperation as well as damaged stability and peace in Europe. Here are just a few of the many pieces of evidence:
Since 2014 – December 2019, the United States has provided Ukraine with $3 billion in reform and military assistance and $3 billion in loan guarantees. US troops in western Ukraine trained their Ukrainian colleagues to fight Russia. Washington, in concert with the European Union, has taken steps to isolate Moscow politically and imposed a series of economic and visa sanctions on Russia and Russians.[+]
in January 2025, US Secretary of State Blinken admitted[+][+] that the US had been supplying Kyiv with weapons before Russia attacked in 2022(“We made sure that well before the Russian aggression happened, starting in September and then again December, we quietly got a lot of weapons to Ukraine”), which surely provoked Russia
on 3 April 2014, speaking to CNN’s Dana Bash[+][+], NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted that the US, UK, and Canada have been training Ukrainian troops “for years”: “NATO allies have supported Ukraine for many, many years,” and then clarified that “NATO allies like the United States, but also the United Kingdom and Canada and some others, have trained Ukrainian troops for years”
from 2014 to March 2022, the United States provided more than $34.9 billion[+] “in security assistance for training and equipment to help Ukraine preserve its territorial integrity, secure its borders, and improve interoperability with NATO.” What if Russia starts training Irish commandos to liberate North Ireland and Scottish commandos to liberate Glasgow from British captivity, would that be okey?
in December 2016, a video[»] showing Americans militarizing and prepping Ukraine to fight Russia, featuring US Senators Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Amy Klobuchar giving a pep talk to soldiers in Ukraine, preparing for a proxy war with Russia. Militarizing Ukraine to kill Russians is certainly an offensive provocation. Lindsey Graham said "Your fight is our fight."
at the June 2021 Brussels summit[+], NATO leaders reiterated the decision taken at the 2008 Bucharest summit that Ukraine would eventually become a NATO member with the MAP as an integral part of the process.
in March 2022, Yahoo News reported[+] that CIA paramilitaries have been active in Ukraine, training forces to “kill Russians”[+], since immediately after the 2014 US-backed coup[+] that overthrew Kyiv’s democratically elected government and installed a pro-Western regime
a leaked document[ꚛ][+] from the Danish embassy in Kyiv dated 21 May 2021, revealing the presence of NATO military instructors from Denmark and the United Kingdom in Ukraine, where the neo-Nazi Azov battalion's main base was located. This is evidence of Ukraine's intensive preparations for active combat operations under NATO's supervision. They were killing ethnic Russians at the time and preparing to fight Russia to retake Crimea
there's heaps of evidence[+] that the US and UK actively sabotaged peace between Ukraine and Russia in the early days of Russian SMO3, and that the US alliance wants this war to continue in order to weaken Russia (drain its military resources)
on 12 July 2023, at a news conference during the NATO summit in Vilnius, then-UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace gave away[»] that the UK and some other NATO states had been building up Ukraine's military capabilitiesbefore the start of the conflict in February 2022: "Also, before this invasion, Britain with Sweden, Canada, the United States were investing in Ukraine and building their capabilities". What for? For Ukraine joining NATO despite Russian objections (as this anti-Russian military bloc poses a threat to Russian security), for killing Russian ethnic minorities in Donbas, and for plans to go on an offensive to retake Crimea
➡ US President Trump said[»] “The war in Ukraine began because Biden promised Ukraine NATO membership.”
➡ US installation of sophisticated weapons systems and military bases in the new NATO countries bordering Russia, including Poland, the Baltic states, and Romania, as well as Ukraine, which was all meant against Russia. Since 2014, NATO has deployed additionally more than 4.500 troops to states on Russian borders. On 4 February 2022 (20 days before Russia launched its SMO in Ukraine), the US sent its new troops – 3.000 soldiers[+] – to NATO states on Russian borders and Germany even though Russia had not threatened any NATO states in any way. This was clearly not meant to defend NATO as there was never any imminent threat to any NATO member but an utter provocation, intimidation, and threat to Russia's security. The US and NATO as a whole violated the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security between NATO and the Russian Federation[+], under which the alliance pledged not to do "additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces" in new member states since 1997.
➡ on 12 May 2016, the US activated[+] missile system in Romania, angering Russia. The US claimed it was purely defensive, but Moscow said[+] the system could also be used offensively and could deliver a strike on the Russian capital in 10 minutes
By deploying both long-range ballistic missiles[+] and nuclear weapons[+] in Europe, NATO posed a threat to Russia's security provoking Russia to reciprocate. By militarizing and provocatively demonstrating its military power, placing a significant part of the armament near Russia’s borders, NATO intimidates Russia and threatens its security despite pledging in 1997 to “strengthen mutual trust and cooperation” and committing to “building a stable, peaceful, and undivided Europe”.
➡ on 6 June 2016, symbolically on the anniversary of the Normandy invasion, NATO launched aggressive exercises against Russia. It began war games with 31.000 troops near Russia’s borders, the largest exercise in Eastern Europe since the Cold War ended. For the first time in 75 years, German troops retraced the steps of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union across Poland
➡ in the July 2016 NATO Summit in Warsaw, NATO leaders pledged to increase alliance presence in the region[+] and so violated a key part of the Russia-NATO Founding Act[+], where NATO pledged not to move its military infrastructure on the territory of new members.
➡ in February 2017, the NATO Defense Ministerial Meeting[+] approved a maritime coordination function between NATO Standing Naval Forces and NATO allies in the Black Sea region to enhance cooperation and bolster NATO’s presence in the Black Sea region with the increased military presence of the United States in Europe.
➡ Provocative NATO military exercises[+], such as in the Black Sea[+][+][+][+][+], annual Operation Atlantic Resolve[+] in Eastern Europe, and Spring Storm drills every year in Estonia[+][+][+], Anaconda Polish-led military exercises[+] in 2016, the Iron Spear military exercise in Latvia[+]in October 2019, and many other
➡ in August 2019 and May 2020, US withdrew from arms control agreements. In August 2019, under Trump administration, US withdrew from Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, an agreement with the Russian Federation that limited the types of weapons systems the nations involved could pursue[+]. And in May 2020, US withdrew also from the Open Skies Treaty that permitted unarmed aerial surveillance flights over 34 participating countries[+]. As usual, they blamed it on Russian violations of those treaties while providing no evidence to back up their claims but they did it to allow themselves to deploy nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at Russian borders as well as reconnaissance flights to collect data on troop deployments, military facilities and so on. And they started to do that in Poland and Romania, which was a real concern for Russia. And when thoughtless Zelensky announced at Munich security conference on 19 February 2022 that he considers Budapest memorandum void implying and that he would seek to arm the country with nuclear weapons and on top of that US Vice President Harris encouraged Zelensky to join NATO, then this was a final straw for Russia and just days later, Russians sent their troops into Ukraine to show what they think about that since none of them took Russia or Putin seriously when they warned about their red lines. Kamala Harris and Zelensky are clear examples of inconsiderate, arrogant heads of states who are not intellectual enough to know the consequences of their actions and just do what they want without any consideration of others and the security concerns of others.
➡ in August 2020, the Americans continued to mobilize military forces near the borders of Russia[+]. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak signed an agreement that allowed the Pentagon to deploy an additional 1.000 troops to Poland.
➡ The Biden administration’s 2021 treatment of Ukraine as a de facto member of NATO. In December 2021, three months before this war broke out, US President Joe Biden assured Ukrainian President Zelensky that NATO membership was in Ukraine's hands[+]. This surely provoked a reaction from NATO's enemy Russia
➡ 20 September 2021 – US and NATO held military drills with Ukraine[+]
➡ in early December 2021, it was reported[+][+] that the NATO-backed Armed Forces of Ukraine deployed 125.000 troops against the Russian ethnic minorities at the borders of Donbas close to Russia’s border. A massive buildup and activity of NATO-funded forces inside Ukraine were crossing Russia's red line[+], just as the US would feel the same if Russia did the same in Cuba. Wonder how Americans would feel if Russians had trained and militarized the Cubans to fight Americans!
➡ in December 2021, NATO and the US rejected treaties with Russia. In light of all the threatening activity on its border, on 17 December 2021, President Putin presented two treaties to be signed, one with the US[+]and the other with NATO[+], the essence of which is that the West pledges not to threaten Russia's borders by offering membership to Ukraine or by arming and placing missiles in Ukraine, as well as the removal of the Romanian missile system and the withdrawal of NATO troop deployments from Eastern Europe. Putin stated, "You are on our doorstep. We cannot back down." Putin promised a “technical-military” response if the NATO powers did not stop their offensive actions. Both US President Biden and NATO General Secretary Stoltenberg refused to sign it, which was a major provocation!
➡ on 4 February 2022 (20 days before Russia launched its SMO in Ukraine), the US sent its troops – 3.000 new soldiers[+] and by 18 February6.000 American service members[+]– to NATO states on Russian borders and Germany even though Russia had not threatened any NATO states in any way. This was clearly not meant to defend NATO as there was never any imminent threat to any NATO member but an utter intimidation and threat to Russia's security.
The US and NATO as a whole thereby again violated the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security between NATO and the Russian Federation[+], under which the alliance pledged not to do "additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces" in new member states since 1997. On 19 February 2022 at the Munich Security Conference (before Putin sent troops to Ukraine), US Vice President said[+][+]: “We have deployed an additional 6.000 American service members to Romania, Poland, and Germany.” What for? Against Russia, of course, and against the Founding Act. Also, NATO claimed that in 2016, it has deployed an additional substantial number of more than 4.500 troops to states on Russian borders – Baltic states and Poland. Deploying the US and NATO troops in countries on Russian borders is as unacceptable as if Russia deployed their troops off the Florida coast, in Cuba, Venezuela, and Mexico, for instance. What would the US do if Russia deployed thousands of their permanent or rotational troops in countries on their borders? Slovak Prime Minister Fico asked[»] the US authorities the same thing: "Imagine Mexico, which is next to you, imagine that the Mexican Ministry of Defence will become completely under the control of Russia. What would you do?” The US should follow the Golden Rule[+] of not doing to others that which they do not wish to be done to them! The US should have learned from history – the Cuban missile crisis[+] in 1962. Russia claims that NATO military exercises such as in the Black Sea[+][+][+][+][+], annual Operation Atlantic Resolve[+] in Eastern Europe, and Spring Storm drills every year in Estonia[+][+][+] also violate a key part of the Russia-NATO Founding Act, as NATO pledged not to move its military infrastructure on the territory of new members. Also, NATO pledged to strengthen mutual trust and cooperation as well as committed to building a stable, peaceful, and undivided Europe but since 2014, it has broken those commitments by arming Ukraine to kill Russians living in Donbas. NATO supported (trained, armed, and funded) militants in eastern Ukraine who had been killing the Russians there since 2014. Russia, on the other hand, honored the Russia-NATO Founding Act by not threatening or using force against any NATO member. NATO claims that the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 was a violation of that Act, using it as an excuse to subsequently further break its own pledges. With a peaceful annexation of Crimea, after Crimeans (mostly ethnic Russians) declared independence from Ukraine (after the new unelected, US-appointed Kyiv regime banned the use of the Russian language), Russia prevented a war there, which was in line with the Act's commitment to build a stable, peaceful, and undivided Europe.
➡ On 19 February 2022, at the Munich Security Conference (5 days before Putin sent troops to Ukraine), US Vice President Harris emphasized that the US supports Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO. The fact is, it was not Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO, as all polls and reluctance to have a referendum on it, showed that majority of Ukrainian people did not aspire to join NATO but only corrupt Kyiv regime (that was installed via NATO states meddling in Ukraine) did. During press conference, when reporters asked about it, Harris acknowledged[+] Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s desire for Ukraine to join NATO rather than reject it. She further encouraged Zelensky to join NATO as she revealed[+]: “In fact, I told him in our meeting, ‘The United States stands with you’." She also revealed[+] how the US and NATO Alliance have provided enormous support (e.g., $650 million in aid and $1 billion in loan guarantees) for Ukraine by then, proving how they were bribing Ukraine into aligning with NATO. Since 2008, NATO’s statement that Ukraine “will become a member” and its provision of aid, training, and political support signal encouragement of Ukraine joining NATO. The 2008 Bucharest Summit declaration and subsequent aid and training programs as well as NATO military exercises occurring in Ukraine indicate NATO’s support for Ukraine joining NATO, which Russia has logically perceived as provocative. In its Declaration of Independence, Ukraine has pledged to be neutral but it violated that pledge as well as many subsequent pledges on neutrality in treaties with Russia. All these NATO actions encouraged Ukraine’s alignment with NATO as opposed to staying neutral. And on top of that, US Vice President Harris revealed further provocations by exposing[+][+]: “We will further reinforce our NATO Allies on the eastern flank… We have deployed an additional 6,000 American service members to Romania, Poland, and Germany.” What for???
➡ On 20 February 2022, 4 days before Russian launched its SMO, Macron told[»] Putin that the Minsk agreements that were supposed to protect Russian ethnic minorities in Eastern Ukraine (Donbas) had no legal force and is worthless! Putin claimed[+] on 24 February 2022 that the West ‘forced’ him to invade Ukraine by rejecting security demands. Putin said the military action was a “forced measure” that stemmed from rising security risks for Russia.
➡ in March-April 2022, NATO leaders sabotaged a peace agreement, as Russia and Ukraine agreed on a framework agreement that would end the war, including Ukraine pledging not to join NATO. The US and UK leaders intruded and pressed Ukraine to cancel the peace agreement and fight Russia
➡ on 26 March 2022, in a speech in Warsaw, Biden confirmed[+] that the US was seeking to overthrow the Putin government through its proxy war against Russia.
That NATO provoked Russia to start its SMO is confirmed by many renowned people:
➡ Many Western politicians, scholars and political scientists, such as John Mearsheimer[»][»] (American political scientist and international relations scholar, Professor at the University of Chicago), claim[+] that the reckless expansion of NATO provoked Russia.
➡ Donald Trump said[»] in June 2024 interview that the war was provoked by NATO and Biden, that it started because of NATO expansion and he blamed Biden for publicly saying that Ukraine will go into NATO.
➡ British politicians confirmed NATO provocations:
Former UK's leader of the Opposition and leader of the UK's Labour Party (2015-2020), Jeremy Corbyn[+] blames NATO, not the Kremlin, for the Ukraine crisis[+][+] On 18 February 2022, alongside 11 Labour MPs, he cosigned a statement[+] calling NATO to halt its eastward expansion and opposing the British government's sending of arms to Ukraine and troops to eastern Europe, which they see only inflaming tensions and indicating disdain for Russia’s security concerns. The statement's authors also said that they "refute the idea that NATO is a defensive alliance".
Leader of a right-wing populist political party Reform UK, Nigel Farage also said[»] NATO expansion provoked the war.
➡ “The US wanting to make Ukraine a NATO member was a serious mistake and led to the current conflict” – former US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal[+].
➡ On 9 July 2022, Mairead Maguire, Irish Nobel Peace Prize Winner, stated[+]: “This relentless eastward expansion of NATO during the past decade has been an existential threat to a nuclear-armed Russia and the main cause of the present military conflict in Ukraine. …sending arms into Ukraine only adds fuel to the fire.”
➡ "NATO's expansion has provoked tensions with Russia, endangering peace in Europe." – Gregor Gysi (German attorney, former president of the Party of the European Left)
➡ Even the Pope said the war was provoked. In an interview[+][+] with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, pope said that NATO may have “perhaps facilitated” the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine by “barking at Russia’s door”. Also, in another interview published in June 2022[+][+][+], Pope Francis said Russia’s war in Ukraine was “perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented (questa guerra, che è stata forse in qualche modo o provocata o non impedita)”. Many Global Majority[+] countries blame US/NATO for the Ukraine war, not Russia[+].
➡ US Judge Napolitano and Col. Scott Ritter: How NATO caused the Ukraine War[»].
➡ Countless renowned news media outlets reported how NATO provoked this war, which we won't list here but just mention a random article such as from Responsible Statecraft[+]: NATO expansion and the origins of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – Despite available evidence, many in Washington try to downplay the Atlantic Alliance’s push eastward as a driving force for Putin’s war.
Thank you for reading this article and participating in this peace initiative by raising your awareness and, hopefully, your consciousness and spirit. To properly grasp everything, we[*]recommend reading the articles of this peace initiative for Ukraine in the proper order, which is listed in the Contents. So if you haven’t read the previous articles, we recommend that you do. When you are ready, please proceed to the next article in this “Meeting the Demands for Ending the War” segment: “Why should Ukraine guarantee that it would not join NATO?” in which we provide evidence that NATO Is NOT Just a Defensive Alliance
we refer to Kyiv as a regime[+] due to its oppressive and repressive policies, corruption, and foul treatment of its ethnic minorities, such as the ethnic Russians, violating their human rights, tyrannizing, and killing them since 2014.
the New York Times is mouthpiece for the US Democratic Party, White House, globalists, and neocons. It is the flagship publication for liberal triumphalism; socially progressive. It used to endorse the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
Thanks for sharing. Good to get all the facts in one article. Unfortunately are the western MSM not telling people the truth Most people believe the USA NATO fake propaganda that Russia are the bad guys who will take Ukraine and there after they will attack NATO countries in north Europe Therefore USA NATO have to support Ukraine and stop Russia They fight for freedom and democracy 😂😂. As we know are it all lies Russia is not the bad guy and they have no intention to attack NATO countries As we know are USA NATO losing their war against Russia and Ukraine are completely destroyed Up to half a million people are killed and many millions have escaped and will probably not come back. A complete disaster from USA. Just like Korea Vietnam Afghanistan and other of their illegal loser wars. Waste of life’s and money It will be interesting to see how they will explain their defeat and what will happen then they withdraw their troops and stop supporting Ukraine If Trump win the election he can say it didn’t happen on my watch and I have been against the war from day one. Therefore I stop it now. Harris is part of the war and are supporting Ukraine 100 %. So if she wins how will she react and and will she admit the defeat?
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Thanks for sharing. Good to get all the facts in one article. Unfortunately are the western MSM not telling people the truth Most people believe the USA NATO fake propaganda that Russia are the bad guys who will take Ukraine and there after they will attack NATO countries in north Europe Therefore USA NATO have to support Ukraine and stop Russia They fight for freedom and democracy 😂😂. As we know are it all lies Russia is not the bad guy and they have no intention to attack NATO countries As we know are USA NATO losing their war against Russia and Ukraine are completely destroyed Up to half a million people are killed and many millions have escaped and will probably not come back. A complete disaster from USA. Just like Korea Vietnam Afghanistan and other of their illegal loser wars. Waste of life’s and money It will be interesting to see how they will explain their defeat and what will happen then they withdraw their troops and stop supporting Ukraine If Trump win the election he can say it didn’t happen on my watch and I have been against the war from day one. Therefore I stop it now. Harris is part of the war and are supporting Ukraine 100 %. So if she wins how will she react and and will she admit the defeat?