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“Ukraine is already a de facto member of NATO.” — Oleksii Reznikov, Defense Minister of Ukraine

If reports are correct that modern Western weapon systems are slated to pour into Ukraine–the latest US and German tanks, Patriot missile systems, and other current weaponry–Minister Reznikov is correct.  

These weapons imply that Ukraine has enough soldiers left to use them.  It will require months to prepare Ukraine for these weapons.  A logistical system is necessary for the delivery, maintenance, and protection of the weaponry from Russian air and missile attack.  This will require US/NATO personnel on the ground in Ukraine if the weapons are to be effectively used.  

In other words, the “limited military operation” has widened into a war between the US/NATO/Ukraine and Russia.  

Apparently, it is going to be a war without a NATO declaration of war. 

The reason is that if all the weaponry promised is delivered, NATO and the US will be without fighting ability except in Ukraine where the weapons will be located.  Russia could, if she had the leadership, simply sweep through weapons-depleted Baltics and Finland around Germany into France and circle back to Serbia, leaving East and West Europe cut off and surrounded.  But this would make the war officially one with NATO, and the US would have to use its only means–nuclear weapons.

So it looks as if Russia will continue to pretend that there is only a limited military operation,  and US/NATO will continue to pretend that the weapons are just aid to Ukraine.

A Russian military operation that the Kremlin should have completed in a few days eight years ago has now, once belatedly begun, extended another year.  The consequence of the Kremlin’s unpreparedness and endless delay is a full-fledged involvement of US/NATO in the war with the aim of retaking Donbass and Crimea from Russia.  The increased Ukrainian firepower means far more Russian casualties, and Washington’s involvement has passed the threshold at which Washington can accept a Russian victory.

It short, the Kremlin has blown its opportunity, and we are headed toward Armageddon.

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Paul Craig Roberts is a renowned author and academic, chairman of The Institute for Political Economy where this article  was originally published. Dr. Roberts was previously associate editor and columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy during the Reagan Administration. He is a regular contributor to Global Research. 

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