Russia's neighbors back Ukraine's NATO bid at summit

[calguy]

The leaders of Europe’s Baltic states on Tuesday reiterated their support for Ukraine’s expedited NATO membership bid, insisting that Kyiv should join the military alliance as soon as its war with Russia is over.

Speaking on the first day of NATO’s two-day summit, Latvia’s Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš said that all allies were aligned on the embattled state’s ultimate membership.

“Everyone is on the same page: Ukraine will be in NATO,” Kariņš told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick.

“I’m convinced that after the war, they will be a member,” he added.

Ukraine’s accession to the alliance is one of the major topics on the agenda as NATO members meet in Vilnius, Lithuania this week.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/11/russia-ukraine-war-baltic-leaders-back-kyivs-nato-bid-at-summit.html?qsearchterm=and

[WarGamer]

1. So odd to see the phrase "neighbors"

They've hated each other for decades.

The Baltics are just like Poland, wary of and bitterly anti-Russia.

[thucythucy]

2. The Baltic states in particular have good reasons

for their antipathy towards Russia, and Putin's invasion of Ukrainee, with its incredible cruelty, has only underlined those reasons.

[WarGamer]

3. Estonia is in an odd position.

The last time I was there, I traveled by road from West to East, all the way to Narva where the great Russian fortress of Ivangorod faces down the Estonian fortress, Hermann Castle.

The Eastern half of the country is quite Russian... immigrants from post WW2 and they have quite a bit of friction with the Western centric gov't in Tallinn.

[thucythucy]

4. Didn't Estonia just recently endorse marriage equality?

I can see the Putinistas losing their shit over that.

Every former Soviet republic has a more or less substantial Russian minority, in part a result of efforts to "Russify" those areas. It's all so very complicated, but I don't see how Putin's aggressions are making the plight of Russian minorities any easier. I think of the Sudeten Germans in the 1930s, who ended up suffering for the transgressions of their "greater German" cousins.

This war has been a disaster all around. So much suffering because of one man's absurd delusions.

[WarGamer]

5. Yes they did. The Gov't in in line with all the major EU powers.

All wars are disasters.

This one is no different.

The Iraq War was a disaster.

Men have been traveling across the adjacent valley to club the local tribe to death and take the land for 10's of thousands of years.

War IS the human condition.

Aren't I a ray of sunshine?

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

6. Key phrase "after the war is over", we've already said that, we're just not starting WWIII over them

Z-man will learn a hard lesson if he thinks NATO would let him in before fighting is over, that would be like instant direct war with Russia

[maxsolomon]

7. Neighbors is certainly a polite term for it.

Historical territories? Former Soviet Republics?

Once again, notice that everyone says ONCE THE WAR IS OVER.

NATO still has the requirement that there are no ongoing territorial disputes for new members. It's one of the reasons Putin's Little Green Men invaded the Donbas long ago - to prevent Ukraine from meeting the prerequisites. If Putin had thought to do it to the Baltics before they escaped his sphere of influence, he'd have started a separatist movement there as well.

When the peace agreement comes, the cost of NATO membership will be ceding territory to Russia.

[prodigitalson]

8. Crimea will be the concession