In a show of appreciation to Slovakia for sending Kyiv Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets, the U.S. has offered to help Bratislava finance the purchase of several attack helicopters and Hellfire missiles.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Army opened its first permanent garrison on NATO’s “eastern flank” at Camp Kosciuszko in Poland. NATO’s eastern border stretches from the Baltics to the Black Sea and is comprised of 8 countries, all of which are former members of the Warsaw Pact or the USSR. Now, the U.S. Army’s V Corps will have a permanent presence in the region.
Jan Emeryk Rościszewski, Poland’s Ambassador to France, made the startling declaration that Poland would declare war on Russia should Ukraine lose the war. “If Ukraine fails to defend its independence,” the ambassador told French television, “we will have no choice, we will be forced to enter the conflict.”
Tens of thousands marched in the streets shouting “Motion of censorship! Vote censorship!” calling on parliament to pass a non-partisan vote of no-confidence in the government to bring down the regime. They also chanted “Out Of NATO,” to express their opposition to Macron’s support for the war in Ukraine while ignoring the needs of his own people.
NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, on Tuesday, confirmed that NATO and its members want Ukraine to eventually join the military alliance at some point in the future. “NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will become a member of our alliance, but at the same time that that is a long-term perspective,” Stoltenberg said.
Over 10,000 people turned out for a massive protest in Paris against France’s NATO and EU membership, and calling for an end to military aid for Ukraine. This is the second straight weekend of protests organized by the Les Patriotes party, a Gaullist party, led by Florian Philippot, who personally attended the rally in Paris.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delivered his annual State of the State address on Saturday in which he told the nation that due to the escalation of the war in Ukraine and the disastrous sanctions policy pursued by the European Union, “2023 will be the most dangerous year since the fall of communism.”
Hundreds of anti-war protesters gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on Sunday to protest the war in Ukraine. The turnout of thousands that organizers had anticipated did not materialize. The event called “Rage Against the War Machine,” sponsored by the Libertarian Party and the People’s Party, was broadcast live stream on YouTube with a few thousand viewers. The event included an eclectic group of speakers, the most significant being Dennis Kucinich, Tulsi Gabbard, and Ron Paul.
At her weekly press briefing on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova blasted NATO for its role in escalating the war in Ukraine. Commenting on the NATO meetings in Brussels this week to increase military aid to Ukraine, she said “the main takeaway from this meeting was that Vladimir Zelensky’s regime was literally ordered to launch a counteroffensive this spring…. From a Euro-Atlantic perspective, the time has come to exterminate those who are still alive in this country.”