It looks as though the war is widening in Ukraine

June 29, 2022 By Francis P. Sempa

Reuters reports that the Turkish government has removed its objections to Finland and Sweden joining NATO.  President Biden called it a move that "will strengthen our Alliance and bolster our collective security."  More U.S. and Western arms are being shipped to Ukraine.  A few days ago, a Ukrainian military spokesman said the village of Desna in its northern Chernigiv region came under massive bombardment from Belarus.  If that's true, the Russia-Ukraine war has already widened.  And there is little, if any, movement toward a negotiated solution to the war.

Meanwhile, the Russian foreign ministry called the European Union's recent grant of candidate status to Ukraine a further effort to "contain Russia" and to monopolize Russia's geopolitical space.  The reaction to Finland and Sweden moving closer to NATO membership will likely produce more Russian condemnation — and perhaps worse.

A glance at a map will reveal Russia's security dilemma.  If and when Finland and Sweden join NATO, the Russian state will be confronted with a hostile military alliance along virtually its entire European border — only Belarus, Ukraine, and Georgia are buffer states.  And the U.S. and some other NATO powers have previously suggested that at least two of those countries — Ukraine and Georgia — could become NATO members, too.  Viewed from Moscow, it is a menacing geopolitical position, and all of the soothing talk about NATO being a purely defensive alliance will do nothing to change Moscow's view................To Read More.....