Head of NATO says Russia invaded Ukraine because of NATO expansionism

www.nato.int /cps/en/natohq/opinions_218172.htm

From the guy's own mouth.

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Whoa, Putin's propaganda goes all the way to the top!
/s because I just remembered where I am

There is nothing in this that reflects the title. It's nothing more than passive propaganda. They are relying on people to just read the title and not open the link.
What is actually said is:
And let me just end by saying that this reflects the political reality that nations are sovereign. Nations decide themselves, and Ukraine has of course the right to decide its own path. And it's up to Ukraine and NATO Allies to decide when Ukraine becomes a member. Russia cannot veto membership for any sovereign independent state in Europe.
- The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn't sign that.
  At least he had some good jokes to warm up the crowd!
  I think I've told you before that I know it's hard to allocate money for defence, because most politicians want to spend money on health, on education, on infrastructure instead of defence.
  
  Lmao holy shit. What the fuck country is he talking about? The bridges are falling apart everywhere
- And let me just end by saying that this reflects the political reality that nations are sovereign.
  I mean that's just factually untrue. Every nations sovereignty is restricted by geopolitical realities. No nation can just do whatever they desire, including joining certain alliances. Mexico will not be joining BRICS for instance, because of the geopolitical situation. And that's not even a military alliance, which NATO is! Europeans are not special, they have to play by the same rules as everybody else. To claim otherwise is to ignore the reality on the ground right now, both in Ukraine and globally.
  Also none of this factors in that joining NATO, by definition, involves giving up some part of your nations sovereignty. NATO in reality acts as an extended arm of the US military and it's industrial complex, and in joining, countries are subjected to this reality of Atlanticism.
  
  Mexico will not join BRICs because they would then have to leave USMCA trade agreement. Cuba, your nearest neighbour, can do whatever it wants. The US does not get to dictate anymore by military might. They have done in the past. To do so today would bring other trade deals into conflict. The EU would be very against this. This does not mean the US cannot use its financial might, which it clearly does and often.
  Also none of this factors in that joining NATO, by definition, involves giving up some part of your nations sovereignty. NATO in reality acts as an extended arm of the US military and it’s industrial complex, and in joining, countries are subjected to this reality of Atlanticism.
  Simply not true. Being part of NATO is not an aggressive pact. It is only enacted if another member is attacked. One or more members being aggressive does not mean the rest have to follow. The US and the UK attacked Iran as individual nations. The US has the biggest say in NATO because they spend more than anyone else by quite some distance. Something that is changing because of the Russian attempts to annex Ukraine into its own borders.
- Actually he also said (in the link):
  “The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn’t sign that.”
  
  "If you don't promise to stop making new friends, I'm going to kill another one."
  
  Some Presidents should stick to declaring only things they have control over.
  
  what about 2014
  
  This is so hilariously weak who did you think you would convince with this quote blatantly showing your title to be a lie. Lmao.
- Then lastly on Sweden. First of all, it is historic that now Finland is member of the Alliance. And we have to remember the background. The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn't sign that.
  The opposite happened. He wanted us to sign that promise, never to enlarge NATO. He wanted us to remove our military infrastructure in all Allies that have joined NATO since 1997, meaning half of NATO, all the Central and Eastern Europe, we should remove NATO from that part of our Alliance, introducing some kind of B, or second class membership. We rejected that.
  So he went to war to prevent NATO, more NATO, close to his borders.
  Learn to read.

Then lastly on Sweden. First of all, it is historic that now Finland is member of the Alliance. And we have to remember the background. The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn't sign that.
The opposite happened. He wanted us to sign that promise, never to enlarge NATO. He wanted us to remove our military infrastructure in all Allies that have joined NATO since 1997, meaning half of NATO, all the Central and Eastern Europe, we should remove NATO from that part of our Alliance, introducing some kind of B, or second class membership. We rejected that.
So he went to war to prevent NATO, more NATO, close to his borders.
At least quote the relevant section ffs

Head of NATO ruzzian shill confirmed

Why are they just admitting to it now? What changed?

The closest thing to the lie you wrote is the part where it says Putin demanded that NATO stop recognizing Ukraine as a sovereign country. So he's invading Ukraine because NATO didn't allow him to annex Ukraine Anschluss and annexation of Sudetenland style. And if you think that would help, remember that appeasing Putin over Georgia and, effectively, over Crimea and Donbass didn't do shit to stop his aggression.
Besides the document implies what was already obvious, which is that, before the war, Ukraine wasn't even going to be allowed into NATO any time soon, NATO countries just couldn't sign an agreement that would limit Ukraine's sovereignty.
- What is the fascination with historically illiterate liberals trying to equate everything they don't like to Hitler?
  Putin invaded Ukraine, because he doesn't want nukes 800 km from Moscow. If you don't understand this, you don't understand what is happening here.
  
  Yes but you see, no country has declared war based on the threat of nukes.
  Quarantines are, of course, different. As are special military operations. Of course.
  
  "Everyone around me is arming themselves. Better stab the one that hasn't got a weapon because I agreed to defend them a while back. That'll fix it."
  
  Putin invaded because he's an autocratic piece of shit that wants to bully smaller countries into increasing his own wealth and power. I don't expect a pro Kremlin stooge to understand anything happening here though.

It's hilarious seeing the liberals' comments here that prove that despite being overeducated they literally don't know how to read.

Literally nowhere in these remarks does it say "expansion" or "expansionism"...
- You know synonyms exist right? And "enlargement" and "expansionism" are cleary synonyms in this context.
  The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn't sign that. The opposite happened. He wanted us to sign that promise, never to enlarge NATO.
  
  But they used Ctrl + F
- Ahh yes you have to think a bit critically.
  
  You have to read the whole article instead of Ctrl+Fing...

What he's saying is that Putin doesn't get to dictate which alliances sovereign nations can join.
- Ahh yes, NATO, an alliance well known for respecting sovereignty. That's why they invade and bomb any third world nation with a sovereign project against US interests...
  And how did these nations join NATO post cold war? Surely there was no manipulation of the sovereignty of Eastern European nations at that time right?
  And do NATO countries have sovereignty themselves, or are they just US vassal states? Be honest here, because the answer is quite clear. It's gotten to the point that the US can bomb the gas pipelines of another NATO country (see nordstream) and nothing can be done about it. And every NATO country has to buy US weapons systems, engage in specific international training exercises, etc. Very sovereign.
  Let's be clear, realpolitik is all there ever was, and all there ever will be in geopolitics. The "sovereignty" of every nation on the planet is subject to this. Unless you want to do the Turkey/Cuban missile crisis again. There's a reason Mexico can't join BRICS, there's a reason Cuba can't claim Guantanamo bay as theirs, etc.
- Sovereign nations like Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, and Cuba, right?
  ... right?
  
  Yes.
- That's the same thing
  
  Except that OP is trying to frame the invasion as justified when the reality is that Putin thought he could bully his neighbors. NATO predictably went "fuck off" and that somehow means bombing Ukrainian children was unavoidable.
- "The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn't sign that."
  
  "Don't allow others to join your defense pact or we'll demonstrate why it's necessary in the first place."
  Perfectly sane logic. Nothing strange.
  
  And Ukraine was already invaded…

Tankies everywhere in this post lol
- For real. They really fucking love Putin too, it's pathetic.
  
  Apparently leftism is when you support right-wing authoritarian capitalists lmao
- Huzzah for US dominance in the world! Huzzah for nuclear escalation! Huzzah for NATO and global imperialism! Huzzah for Zelenski and all Ukrainian Nazis!
  There now, you don't have to feel so alone and surrounded by scary tankies.
- Welcome, stay a while and chat with us. You can expand your horizons or you can go back to reddit where anti-imperialist analysis and opinion are censored.
  
  Lmao I'm a leftist and was never censored in 12 years on reddit. Give me a break from your victim complex.
  You shit stain tankies can keep on sucking authoritarian dick tho.
- It’s because this WorldNews community is hosted on lemmy.ml. There’s better alternatives on @lemmy.world and @kbin.social

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