NATO’s Statement Shocked to Russia! Why Russia’s Move Has Alarmed Ukraine, US & NATO

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1. @adamdalgliesh

   Russia is demanding a security agreement from NATO (run by the US), and it objects to any possibility of Ukraine becoming a NATO member.

   The suggestions include a prohibition on NATO expansion, restrictions on missile placement, and the end of NATO troops being stationed in the territory of former Warsaw Pact countries.

   https://www.rt.com/russia/545913-us-sanctions-against-vladimir-putin/

   The US is ramping up pressure to show the dire need of defending Ukraine from Russia and NOT entering into these security agreements by accusing Russia of various evil designs in regards to Ukraine.

   It is possible that the US will start something in Ukraine or will provoke Ukraine into some anti-Russian military activities and at the same time accuse Russia of initiating the attack.

   This will destroy the idea of the security agreement that Russia wants, will likely push Ukraine to join NATO, and justify placing missiles, nukes, and NATO troops in the countries bordering Russia, including Ukraine.

2. Although most of the people around Biden and Harris have no interest in wars with foreign countries and instead want to wage war on “seditious” U.S. conservatives, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken seems to be an exception. His statements about Russia have been very hawkish recently. And given the chaos and disorder of the Biden administration and the vacuum of leadership at the top, it is possible that Blinken has taken over as functioning leader of the executive branch, as far as foreign and defense policy is concerned. An ominous situation.

3. I have not seen any report elsewhere that NATO has ‘declared war” on Russia, or threatened an attack on Russia by NATO troops. Nor that Russia was “shocked” by NATO threats. It takes a lot to shock someone as cold as ice and as steely in resolve as Putin.

   Some of this “Deep Journal” report sounds like Russian propaganda to me. But I admit that as an American citizen I am biased. What is really important, though, is that it looks like war may break out, regardless of who is responsible for firing the first shot.

4. It increasingly looks like some kind of war between the United States and Russia. That’s all we need! Naturally, both sides are pointing towards the other. But that iswhat always happens when tensions between two countries reach a breaking point.

   First on CNN: US intelligence indicates Russia preparing operation to justify invasion of Ukraine
   Washington (CNN) — The US has information that indicates Russia has prepositioned a group of operatives to conduct a false-flag operation in eastern Ukraine, a US official told CNN on Friday, in an attempt to create a pretext for an invasion.

   The official said the US has evidence that the operatives are trained in urban warfare and in using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia’s own proxy forces.

   Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the Defense Department has credible information indicating Russia has “prepositioned a group of operatives” to execute “an operation designed to look like an attack on them or Russian-speaking people in Ukraine” in order to create a reason for a potential invasion.

   The allegation echoed a statement released by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense on Friday, which said that Russian special services are preparing provocations against Russian forces in an attempt to frame Ukraine. National security adviser Jake Sullivan hinted at the intelligence during a briefing with reporters on Thursday.

   US warns Russia is sounding 'drumbeats of war' against Ukraine as crisis talks end with no breakthrough
   “Our intelligence community has developed information, which has now been downgraded, that Russia is laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating the pretext for an invasion,” Sullivan said on Thursday. “We saw this playbook in 2014. They are preparing this playbook again.”

   The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday that “the military units of the aggressor country and its satellites receive orders to prepare for such provocations.”

   Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, denied that Moscow was preparing for provocations in Ukraine.

   “So far, all these statements have been unfounded and have not been confirmed by anything,” Peskov said.

   The US intelligence finding comes after a week’s worth of diplomatic meetings between Russian and Western officials over Russia’s amassing of tens of thousands of troops along Ukraine’s border. But the talks failed to achieve any breakthroughs, as Russia would not commit to de-escalating and American and NATO officials said Moscow’s demands — including that NATO never admit Ukraine into the alliance — were non-starters.

   A number of Ukraine’s governmental websites were hit by a cyberattack on Friday, a development European officials warned would ratchet up tensions over Ukraine even further.

   ‘We saw this playbook’

   The US official said that the Biden administration believes Russia could be preparing for an invasion into Ukraine “that may result in widespread human rights violations and war crimes should diplomacy fail to meet their objectives.”

   “The Russian military plans to begin these activities several weeks before a military invasion, which could begin between mid-January and mid-February,” the official said. “We saw this playbook in 2014 with Crimea.”

   Kirby said that Putin is likely directly aware of Russian false-flag operatives that could be the pretext for an operation in Ukraine.

   “If past is prologue, it is difficult to see that these kinds of activities could be, would be done without the knowledge if not the imprimatur of the very senior levels of the Russian government,” Kirby told reporters Friday.

   Cyberattack hits Ukraine government websites
   The US has also seen Russian influence actors begin to prime Russian audiences for an intervention, the official said, including by emphasizing narratives about the deterioration of human rights in Ukraine and increased militancy of Ukrainian leaders.

   “During December, Russian language content on social media covering all three of these narratives increased to an average of nearly 3,500 posts per day, a 200% increase from the daily average in November,” the official noted.

   The US, NATO and European officials held high-stakes meetings this week with Russian officials. At the end of the three meetings on Thursday, both sides came away with a pessimistic outlook. Russia’s deputy foreign minister suggested the talks had reached a “dead-end” and saw no reason to continue them, while a senior US official warned that the “drumbeat of war was sounding loud” following the diplomatic sessions.
   Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that Russia believes NATO will increase its activity along its border with Ukraine if Moscow doesn’t obey the West’s demands.

   “While our proposals are aimed at reducing the military confrontation, de-escalating the overall situation in Europe, exactly the opposite is happening in the West. NATO members are building up their strength and aviation. In the territories that are directly adjacent to Ukraine, on the Black Sea, the scale of exercises has increased many times recently,” Lavrov said.

   Ukraine government websites hit by cyberattack

   Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited President Joe Biden and Putin to hold three-way talks to discuss the security situation, said Zelensky aide Andriy Yermak, according to Ukrainian state media outlet Ukrinform.

   On Friday, a number of Ukrainian government websites, including its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were targeted in a cyberattack with threatening text that warned Ukrainians to “be afraid and wait for the worst.” Ukraine’s government said that it appeared Russia was behind the attack.
   Tensions are high on Ukraine's border with Russia. Here's what you need to know
   A US National Security Council official said the President Joe Biden had been briefed on the attack. The official said the US did not have an attribution for the attack yet but would “provide Ukraine with whatever support it needs to recover.”

   The Pentagon said that it was too soon to attribute the attack, though Kirby noted, “This is of a piece of the same kind of playbook we’ve seen from Russia in the past.”

   The European Union’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell condemned the cyberattack, warning it contributes to the “already tense situation” in the region.

   When asked if Russian governmental or non-governmental actors were behind the attacks, Borrell responded that although he didn’t want to “point fingers,” there was “a certain probability as to where they came from.”

   CNN’s Michael Conte, Katharina Krebs, James Frater, Joseph Ataman, Anna Chernova and Niamh Kennedy contributed to this report.

5. Wendy Sherman, trained as a social worker, lead nuclear negotiations with N. Korea under Bill Clinton and Iran under Obama.

   Stoltenberg is the former Prime Minister of Norway.

   So, naturally, they are well qualified in matters of war. Not.

   At least Condoleeza Rice and Richard Nixon could play the piano!