Fydor Lukyanov, the editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs, notes in a commentary that was first published on May 29 in the government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta and then translated and published by RT, that:
“Ukraine is not fighting on its own behalf, but at someone else’s behest. Without Western assistance of various kinds, it would have all ended long ago. This means that NATO is a necessary and indispensable part of the whole campaign, making it an active participant. The bloc recognizes the former, but not the latter. Hence the rather absurd conviction that the supply and use of increasingly sophisticated weapons does not constitute an escalation of the conflict. Nor does it mean that NATO itself is being drawn into a confrontation with Russia.”
Lukyanov argues that there’s a sharp distinction between the U.S. and Europe on a number of points. One is that in the U.S. “the self-awareness that as a nuclear superpower it could be involved in a full-blown atomic war still helps to concentrate minds. Whereas in Europe “on the other hand,” there is “no such ballast.” Another such point, Lukyanov claims, is that the U.S. doesn’t agree with the claim made by Europeans that as soon as he’s done with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will move on to assault Europe. “But if you start from such a false premise, then yes, there is no alternative but to support Ukraine in every possible way,” Lukyanov writes. “And, of course, lift restrictions on the use of weapons. And possibly even send more specialists who know how to use them. And perhaps eventually send combat units from individual NATO member states directly to Ukraine.”
