It Looks Like Ukraine Will Join NATO. How Will Putin Respond?

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Author of How to Prep When You’re Broke and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course

Last weekend, a video began circulating on X (Twitter) that got little to no coverage in the MSM. (I know, you’re shocked.) In the clip, Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of NATO, said something that could drive us rapidly off the cliff into WW3. He said, “Ukraine will join NATO.”

Watch it here:

JUST IN: 🇺🇦 Ukraine will join NATO, Chief says. pic.twitter.com/6zVyjrTOEu

— BRICS (@BRICSinfo) February 24, 2024

This is quite a poke in the eye of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

President Putin has repeatedly warned against Ukraine being allowed to join the alliance. He said it back in February of 2022, when the war began.

“[T]here will be no winners,” he said, describing a hypothetical future in which Ukraine had joined NATO and then attempted to invade Russian-occupied Crimea, “and you will find yourself drawn into this conflict against your will. You will be fulfilling Article 5 in a heartbeat, even before you know it.”

“Do you realize that if Ukraine joins NATO and decides to take Crimea back through military means, the European countries will automatically get drawn into a military conflict with Russia?” Putin said. “Of course, NATO’s united potential and that of Russia are incomparable.”

Though the Kremlin’s English-language transcript has Putin using, somewhat ambiguously, the term “incomparable,” he also asserted that Russia “is one of the world’s leading nuclear powers and is superior to many of those countries in terms of the number of modern nuclear force components.”

Here’s some video footage of this press conference, with subtitles.

Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty basically says that an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all NATO countries and is a pact of collective defense.

The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.

Russia again warned that Ukraine joining NATO would not be well-received in October of 2022.

“Kyiv is well aware that such a step would mean a guaranteed escalation to World War Three,” TASS quoted Alexander Venediktov, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, as saying.

The Russians have been quite clear. If this alliance is made, they will retaliate.

What is Russia’s protocol for using nuclear weapons?

Leaked Russian military documents have exposed that Russia’s threshold for a nuclear attack is lower than we’d previously been told. According to documents that have been seen and verified by the Financial Times:

Criteria for a potential nuclear response range from an enemy incursion on Russian territory to more specific triggers, such as the destruction of 20 percent of Russia’s strategic ballistic missile submarines…

…Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons, which can be delivered by land or sea-launched missiles or from aircraft, are designed for limited battlefield use in Europe and Asia, as opposed to the larger “strategic” weapons intended to target the US. Modern tactical warheads can still release significantly more energy than the weapons dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945…

…The exercises offer a rare insight into how Russia views its nuclear arsenal as a cornerstone of its defence policy — and how it trains forces to be able to carry out a nuclear first strike in some battlefield conditions.

In summary, Russia’s policy is to make the first strike and there are guidelines in place for how and when they would do this. The article is well worth a read.

Is NATO already involved in the fighting?

According to a Hungarian newspaper, Magyar Nemzet, the Russians believe that NATO military personnel are already involved in the conflict in Ukraine, disguising themselves as mercenaries.

In an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, Major General Sergei Rudskoi, the Chief Operations Director of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, spoke about the fact that NATO military personnel take part in the battles in Ukraine disguised as mercenaries, reports the English-language Pravda news portal.

It’s a real shame that we ordinary people get dragged into conflicts with people with whom we have no problems, by people who are protected by bunkers and armies. But it’s happened since the world began.

Prep for this like you would anything else – calmly and rationally.  We can only do what we can do. All of us are limited by something, be it money, location, space, or family members who are not on board.

The important thing is to be aware and proactive.

What do you think?

Do you think Ukraine will join NATO? Will Putin retaliate? If so, will it be with nuclear weapons? What do you expect to see happening with regard to this situation?

Let’s discuss it in the comments section.

About Daisy

Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.

Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.