James W. Meng

Home/Resume/CV -- VLNLAB -- Projects -- Abuse by the United States Government -- Writings

The Ukraine Update: July 2023

getting some solid bloodlust out of Z lately

We value our allies. We value our shared security. And we always appreciate an open conversation.
Ukraine will be represented at the NATO summit in Vilnius. Because it is about respect.

But Ukraine also deserves respect. Now, on the way to Vilnius, we received signals that that certain wording is being discussed without Ukraine.
And I would like to emphasize that this wording is about the invitation to become NATO member, not about Ukraine's membership.
It’s unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine's membership. While at the same time vague wording about "conditions" is added even for inviting Ukraine.
It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the Alliance.
This means that a window of opportunity is being left to bargain Ukraine's membership in NATO in negotiations with Russia. And for Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror.
Uncertainty is weakness. And I will openly discuss this at the summit.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 11, 2023

I remember the first news coverage I saw of this, and I was just like, you know what, he's fucking right. They should put Ukraine into NATO right now. The next day Boris Johnson said the same thing. Dmitri Medvedev then announced in comments to the press that Boris should immediately be put into a psychiatric hospital. But this is all really interesting, because with Ukraine in NATO, Shoigu might stop executing his own troops with friendly fire. Not exactly the most mature group of people, the Russian Army.