WW III is about the self-destruction of NATO and Europe

The official definition of a world war is when all continents are involved in an armed and economic conflict, creating famine and destruction all over the world.

This past week will be remembered by most historians – if anyone is lucky enough to live through this Age of Self-Destruction – as the point of no return for the Russian NATO proxy-Ukrainian war.

The Pentagon hinted that it might stop slow-walking its promised (but as yet to be delivered) M1A2 Abrams main battle tank to the waiting arms of the desperate Ukrainian NATO defenders and simply hand over the MBT’s that are already in America’s warehouses.

Putin issued his first significant COUNTER-threat toward NATO. He told his American rivals that they were to remove their offensive long-range weapons systems in Ukraine, otherwise Russian forces would begin directly targeting those systems.

Here is a red line that NATO and the Americans should think twice about crossing. These offensive systems will be used by Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia.

And while Ukraine certainly has a right to defend itself, the fact that it is doing so with capabilities that it only has thanks to the Americans means that the USA and NATO are now direct combatants.

He said as much in his speech when he said the Americans will bear the responsibility for these actions should Russia be attacked by such systems.

The American long-range systems are undoubtedly staffed or maintained at least partly by Americans, because the Kiev junta mercenaries have no experience to handle those weapons.

Plus, there are likely American forces operating covertly in and around these long-range weapons systems, so we can expect that the Russian targeting of these systems and their surrounding environs will result in multiple American casualties.

Putin made the shocking announcement that Russia was withdrawing from the Obama-era New START Treaty, which limited the number of tactical nuclear weapons that both the United States and Russia could have.

Thus compromise is not possible at this rate. The only thing that would make a peace deal tenable for Russia would be if Putin’s military forces were decisively defeated, which will never happen, understanding the cards on the table.

The Ukrainians have made their intentions clear since before the conflict erupted a year ago: Kiev wants the complete restoration of Crimea and, eventually, eastern Ukraine.

That too is a red line that if crossed will likely trigger Moscow into risking nuclear war. Russia cannot lose its naval base in Sevastopol. If it does, it ceases being a major power, as it is isolated away from the vital Black Sea region.

The West is living in a pure fantasy if its so-called leadership thinks that Putin will simply sit back and watch this unfold. That was the point of Putin’s long-winded speech.

The war isn’t ending. There will be no negotiated settlement, at least not one any time soon, or one that favors the Western side.

Biden is so committed to the Ukrainian cause that he has thus far refused to respond adequately to the major chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, which has been dubbed by many critics of Biden as “America’s Chernobyl.”

Biden has instead lavishly doled US tax dollars out to a foreign country, Ukraine, instead of fellow Americans suffering in that disaster zone – in what is likely the run-up to his re-election campaign for president.

If that doesn’t show you how far Biden is willing to go for Ukraine, I don’t know what will? Also the Taiwan dispute is running into a military conflict on the other side of the world.

So, Beijing is now getting involved more directly on the side of Moscow, meaning that Russia will have greater maneuvering room at a time when the West desperately needs the Russians to be completely isolated.

If it plays its strategic cards right, though, the Communist Party of China will benefit greatly from seeing its two greatest strategic competitors, Russia and America, devour each other over a senseless border dispute in southern Europe.

Which is why Beijing is likely supporting Russia in its fight in Ukraine. The recent speeches made by Biden and Putin, as well as the increasing involvement of China in the Ukraine conflict, mean that war is our lot – and this war is not one that the West can easily win.

Asia Times / ABC Flash Point Military Blog News 2023.