NATO Vilnius Summit: The United States Starting to Harvest Strategic Interests | Summit | United States
From July 11 to 12, NATO held a summit in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Sweden's "accession" and other issues.
Sweden's Accession to the Treaty: Sooner or Later
On July 11th, attendees attended the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania
The addition of new members is an important focus of this NATO summit.
Türkiye, which has always been regarded as the biggest obstacle for Sweden to join NATO, suddenly announced its support for Sweden's application to join NATO before the official start of the NATO summit. But at the same time, President Erdogan of Türkiye said that before Türkiye's parliament approves Sweden's accession to NATO, the EU will open channels on the issue of Türkiye's accession to the EU.
In the view of military observer Liang Yongchun, Sweden's accession to NATO under the mediation and pressure of the United States is a matter of time.
Liang Yongchun:
With Sweden's accession to NATO, Russia's Baltic Sea port, which has been managed painstakingly for more than 300 years since Peter the Great, will be completely locked by NATO. This is also a major strategic interest that the United States has gained through its involvement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Türkiye once opposed Sweden's entry into NATO, but the United States mediated and pressured Türkiye. After it got what it wanted, it would not continue to disturb the situation.
Ukraine's "Jointing": Nothing
On July 12th local time, in Vilnius, Lithuania, during the NATO summit, Ukrainian President Zelensky was interviewed by the media
Another highly anticipated issue at this NATO summit is the Ukraine issue.
Ukraine has been trying to obtain an invitation to join the NATO summit, but due to significant differences among NATO member countries on Ukraine's accession to NATO, the communiqu é issued by the NATO Vilnius summit on July 11th did not issue an invitation to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Zelensky called NATO's move "unprecedented and absurd".
Liang Yongchun believes that Ukraine is just a sacrifice used by NATO to consume Russia, and NATO will not harm its own interests for Ukraine.
Liang Yongchun:
Joining NATO is a bait thrown by the United States to Ukraine. If Ukraine is truly accepted, NATO will have to take on the obligation to protect Ukraine, and the strategic focus of the United States will be anchored in Eastern Europe, leaving no energy to manage matters in the Asia Pacific region.
Ukraine strongly demands to join NATO immediately because Ukraine is afraid that if the US and Russia engage in secret negotiations and make a deal after the war reaches a deadlock, it will be sold. However, US President Biden said that the timing for Ukraine to join NATO is "not yet ripe".
It is obvious that the United States is both using Ukraine and afraid of being trapped by it. It is precisely this selfishness and hypocrisy of the United States that has caused tragedy for the Ukrainian people.
Will the NATO Summit escalate the Russia-Ukraine conflict again?
On May 18th, the United Nations Security Council reviewed the issue of providing weapons to Ukraine
Although there has been no concrete progress on the key issue of Ukraine's accession to the treaty, NATO allies have made significant gestures in providing military aid to Ukraine, with multiple countries announcing an increase in military aid during the NATO summit.
Liang Yongchun:
At this summit, NATO will not accept Ukraine, but we must give something to appease them. In addition, we need to develop a clearer action plan and roadmap for Ukraine's accession to NATO. These practices will certainly cause a strong sense of insecurity in Russia, which will lead to the continued intensification of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
During this summit, NATO attempted to find a set of normalized and sustainable aid model for Ukraine, support Ukraine to continue to fight, and make the Russia-Ukraine conflict a "bottomless hole" in Russia's finance, a "waterloo" in its military, and a "heavy negative asset" in politics.
Strive to promote NATO's Indo Pacific integration?
Another focus of this summit is that the United States continues to promote NATO's "Indo Pacific" strategic shift.
The leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand were invited to attend this summit. This is also the second time that the leaders of the four countries have participated in a NATO summit.
In Liang Yongchun's view, Japan, South Korea, and other four countries are popular actors of the United States in implementing the "Indo Pacific Strategy" and "Global NATO", and may not necessarily be welcomed by European countries.
Liang Yongchun:
NATO didn't even handle its own security well, so it was eager to reach out to the Asia Pacific region. This is only in the interest of the United States, but it has made other NATO members the scapegoats.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has expanded NATO's hegemonic ambitions, but its real power to invest in the "Indo Pacific direction" is very limited.
