MESOP WATCH NEWS : THE ULTIMATE DEATH OF NORTHSTRAEM 2 / A PUTIN – MERKEL – SCHOLZ PROJECT

NATO Chief: Be ‘Prepared for the Worst’ As Russia-Ukraine Tensions Soar 2-12-2021
At a meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers yesterday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called for Russia to de-escalate (Euronews, AP) following its military buildup in and around Ukraine and called for NATO countries (AP) to be “prepared for the worst.”

The tensions have prompted Kyiv to fear that Moscow is preparing an invasion, and Ukraine’s foreign minister called on NATO (Reuters) to prepare sanctions to deter Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also called for direct talks with Moscow in a speech to lawmakers. Today, Russia accused Ukraine (Reuters) of deploying half its army to confront pro-Russia separatists.

 

Analysis
“A careful review of [Russian President Vladimir Putin]’s record with respect to Ukraine suggests that almost all of the requisite components and justifications for military intervention are either in—or moving into—place. Both the near- and long-term indicators suggest that Kyiv and Washington have good reasons to worry,” the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Eugene Rumer and Andrew S. Weiss write.

“[U.S President Joe] Biden needs to do more to increase the economic cost to Russia of its aggression. One of the biggest points of leverage is the nearly completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will carry natural gas from Russia to Germany underneath the Baltic Sea,” CFR’s Max Boot writes.