Putin can end NATO Without Firing a Shot

For almost a decade, Vladimir Putin has been the favorite whipping boy of forever war neocons and the woke left. While relations with the former Soviet Union could never be described as warm, the state of affairs declined dramatically in 2015. That was when the left, led by the permanently slimed Hilary Clinton, concocted a scheme to tie Putin and Russia to an effort to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election by colluding with then candidate Donald Trump.

Two years and countless millions later, the fake Russian collusion scandal was completely discredited, but the damage was done. From a practical standpoint, Trump was effectively boxed out of any meaningful dialog with Putin, and thus, the person in control of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world.

There were consequences.

The West’s isolation of Russia embarrassed Putin. Naturally, he has a large ego and the need to be recognized. Instead, leftists railed against Russia and its alleged interference in American elections, which turned out to be false. I can’t imagine Vladimir Putin felt good about any of it.

The Evolution of the Ukraine War

It’s important to point out in any discussion of the Ukraine war that the consistent media narrative is misleading at best and mostly false at worst. From the beginning of the war, Putin has been portrayed as some insane, cancer ridden, power hungry despot, which ignores the reality of the situation.

In fact, the West contributed significantly to the flames that fanned the war by ignoring repeated warnings from Russia about NATO’s expansionist policies.

Shortly after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Russian President Mikail Gorbachev agreed to German reunification only after receiving assurances from Secretary of State James Baker that NATO would not expand eastward. Since then, NATO has expanded 16 times as it continues to encroach on Russia. Combined with an engineered coup orchestrated in part by the U.S. to depose the duly elected president of Ukraine, it’s clear why Putin felt as though he was being boxed into a corner.

A Unique Opportunity for Russia Arises

Fundamentally, it’s important for the U.S. to get out of the $200 billion money pit quagmire in Ukraine because the harsh truth is they have no hope of winning the war without NATO boots on the ground and access to the most sophisticated U.S. military hardware.

While Russia is clearly suffering as well, they have transitioned to a war economy and are in a much better position to endure over the long haul compared to Ukraine and Europe. It is with that backdrop that Putin has been presented with a unique opportunity to achieve his goals without engaging with NATO militarily.

You see, Donald Trump is not a fan of NATO. He has continually complained about the unfair distribution of the financial burden of the alliance and is insisting NATO members pay 2-5% of their GDP for defense. This is a theme that dates back to his first term.

Additionally, Trump believes that Europe has been treating the U.S. unfairly for years in regard to trade. This trend runs concurrently with a growing anti-European sentiment Trump has signaled since 2017. Whether it’s wokeism, trade, defense, immigration or suppression of freedom of speech, the president clearly does not have a positive impression of Europe.

Which creates an interesting opportunity for Vladimir Putin if he plays his cards right.

Already skeptical of NATO, it must certainly have occurred to Trump that if Russia was no longer a threat, the existence of the organization would have to come into question. Dissolution is the easiest path for the U.S. to pull out of NATO. No doubt, that is why the opportunity presented after the fall of the Berlin Wall to incorporate Russia into the family of nations was rebuffed by the West. NATO leaders knew their very existence was being called into question, so it was imperative that Russia remained an enemy.

No Russian boogeyman = no NATO. It’s just that simple.

So, with the approach Trump is now taking with Putin, which seems to be accommodative, the opportunity is there for Russia to join the U.S. (and perhaps China) in a quasi alliance that achieves the goals of nuclear disarmament and world peace.

Europe and NATO are in a panic over Trump’s broad Ukraine initiative, which apparently cedes the Eastern Ukraine land Russia wanted in the first place, assures Putin that Ukraine will never join NATO, and makes a commitment that no U.S. troops will be deployed on Ukrainian soil.

This is about as much as Putin could hope for. One would assume that lifting of U.S. sanctions would follow. However, Putin must get the hint and follow Trump’s lead by making every effort to strengthen ties with the U.S., rehabilitate his image in the public forum, and forge a closer personal relationship with Trump.

As the image of Putin as a war monger is replaced with one of a statesman, the case to continue NATO in its current form will be increasingly difficult to justify.

Obviously, a lot of money is at stake here, and the losers in the deal won’t go quietly. Still, if Trump succeeds in defanging the Russian monster, contributing NATO countries would have no choice but to slash their military budgets if peace broke out. The entire organization could potentially die without a whimper.

Trump has paved the road, now it’s all up to Putin to make it happen. There is still an opportunity for Russia to join the Western family of nations if they end the war and embrace MAGA principles.