kravietz 🦇 on Nostr: What did US secretary of defense Pete Hegseth say in #Munich yesterday? I think ...
What did US secretary of defense Pete Hegseth say in #Munich yesterday? I think it’s important to take it apart based on the original speech because media coverage tends to be rather misleading. I recommend you actually watch the video because his body language and tone are important part of his message:
https://video.echelon.pl/w/945ecxuygdDyb5N8xr7Wd4
Here are his key points and please keep each of them in mind, because media tends to focus only on some of them taken out of context:
Ukraine must remain sovereign and independent
Return to the 2014 borders is an illusion that only serves wasting resources and costs more lives - if you look at the state of the conflict, it is a statement of fact; also see item 1
Ukraine must be given strong security guarantees
It cannot be Minsk 3.0 - that is, it cannot be a fake ceasefire that is going to be used by Russia for continued hybrid provocations
Ukraine membership in NATO is unrealistic - again, if you look at position of other NATO members, it’s a statement of fact, not a wish
Possible peacekeeping mission must consist of European and non-European forces
But without US and not sent as a NATO mission - I suspect it’s because #Russia many times signalled it won’t tolerate US and NATO presence as a pecekeeping force which by definition will be placed on the occupied territories
To lower fuel prices that are fuelling the Russian budget, Europe must increase its fuel production and lower energy prices - he repeats that twice in different words and it’s so important that I will discuss it below
Europe must provide the predominant part of military and other support for Ukraine -I suspect, because Ukraine is in Europe and not in America and Europe should stop relying on US as its security umbrella
Europe must finally start communicating the threats to Europe and the necessity of greater defence spending to its citizens - same as above, plus too many EU governments communicate with their societies in an infantile manner “not to cause panic”, which actually does cause well-justified panic
US will prioritise deterrence against China in the Pacific area - not a surprise for anyone who had not been sleeping under a rock
In my item 8 above Hegseth makes a very important point, which he then reiterates a few times. You may disagree, but I read it as a desperate call to Europe to stop fiddling around with messianic missions to save the world which don’t work, kill Europe’s economy and destroy society. In short, Europe must stop shutting down its industry and increasing reliance on imports from hostile countries, only fueling their military budgets.
Many people describe Hegseth statements as a “betrayal of Ukraine” or even Europe. What Hegseth says in my opinion is, in the first place, if you want help, you first need to start helping yourself. If Europe wants to patronize others about the benefits of democracy and climate protection, it must first demonstrate that Europe itself is able to build and defend them on its own in a sustainable way, rather than just moulding them in a US-protected sandbox and telling everyone “look how progressive we are”.
It’s not US who is betraying Ukraine here, it’s all the EU governments that consistently block stronger sanctions on Russia because three years into the war they still want to import LNG and other fuels from there or engage in trade bypassing sanctions.
If the message doesn’t get through, we’re really screwed but it’s not US fault, to be honest.
https://video.echelon.pl/w/945ecxuygdDyb5N8xr7Wd4
Here are his key points and please keep each of them in mind, because media tends to focus only on some of them taken out of context:
Ukraine must remain sovereign and independent
Return to the 2014 borders is an illusion that only serves wasting resources and costs more lives - if you look at the state of the conflict, it is a statement of fact; also see item 1
Ukraine must be given strong security guarantees
It cannot be Minsk 3.0 - that is, it cannot be a fake ceasefire that is going to be used by Russia for continued hybrid provocations
Ukraine membership in NATO is unrealistic - again, if you look at position of other NATO members, it’s a statement of fact, not a wish
Possible peacekeeping mission must consist of European and non-European forces
But without US and not sent as a NATO mission - I suspect it’s because #Russia many times signalled it won’t tolerate US and NATO presence as a pecekeeping force which by definition will be placed on the occupied territories
To lower fuel prices that are fuelling the Russian budget, Europe must increase its fuel production and lower energy prices - he repeats that twice in different words and it’s so important that I will discuss it below
Europe must provide the predominant part of military and other support for Ukraine -I suspect, because Ukraine is in Europe and not in America and Europe should stop relying on US as its security umbrella
Europe must finally start communicating the threats to Europe and the necessity of greater defence spending to its citizens - same as above, plus too many EU governments communicate with their societies in an infantile manner “not to cause panic”, which actually does cause well-justified panic
US will prioritise deterrence against China in the Pacific area - not a surprise for anyone who had not been sleeping under a rock
In my item 8 above Hegseth makes a very important point, which he then reiterates a few times. You may disagree, but I read it as a desperate call to Europe to stop fiddling around with messianic missions to save the world which don’t work, kill Europe’s economy and destroy society. In short, Europe must stop shutting down its industry and increasing reliance on imports from hostile countries, only fueling their military budgets.
Many people describe Hegseth statements as a “betrayal of Ukraine” or even Europe. What Hegseth says in my opinion is, in the first place, if you want help, you first need to start helping yourself. If Europe wants to patronize others about the benefits of democracy and climate protection, it must first demonstrate that Europe itself is able to build and defend them on its own in a sustainable way, rather than just moulding them in a US-protected sandbox and telling everyone “look how progressive we are”.
It’s not US who is betraying Ukraine here, it’s all the EU governments that consistently block stronger sanctions on Russia because three years into the war they still want to import LNG and other fuels from there or engage in trade bypassing sanctions.
If the message doesn’t get through, we’re really screwed but it’s not US fault, to be honest.