{"id":3364,"date":"2025-02-24T18:38:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T19:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/?p=3364"},"modified":"2025-02-24T20:29:56","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T20:29:56","slug":"west-knew-nato-push-for-ukraine-was-risky-wikileaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/west-knew-nato-push-for-ukraine-was-risky-wikileaks\/","title":{"rendered":"West knew NATO push for Ukraine was risky \u2013 Wikileaks"},"content":{"rendered":"

American diplomats warned of Moscow\u2019s strong opposition in the mid-2000s, according to a report<\/strong><\/p>\n

US and European officials were long aware of the high risk of conflict stemming from Kiev\u2019s NATO ambition, Wikileaks revealed on Monday. Citing a trove of documents it obtained, the publisher detailed how Washington looked for ways to overcome some countries\u2019 opposition to the idea despite warnings from Western envoys.<\/p>\n

Moscow repeatedly warned the diplomats that Ukraine\u2019s accession to the US-led bloc could trigger a civil war or destabilize the whole region, forcing Russia to make a decision it \u201cdoes not want to have to face,\u201d<\/em> according to a 24-minute-long video published by Wikileaks on X.<\/p>\n

The organization also cited a February 2008 cable from then US ambassador to Moscow William Burns, who warned that Russia saw NATO expansion as a security threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only does Russia perceive encirclement, and efforts to undermine Russia\u2019s influence in the region, but it also fears unpredictable and uncontrolled consequences which would seriously affect Russian security interests,\u201d<\/em> he wrote.<\/p>\n

That sentiment was shared by some NATO allies in Europe at the time, another document suggests. A 2005 cable documenting a meeting between the then US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, Daniel Fried, and several high-ranking French officials said that Paris was concerned about Ukraine\u2019s NATO trajectory sparking an armed conflict on the continent.
<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
Ukraine conflict was \u2018provoked\u2019 \u2013 Trump adviser<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIf there remained one potential cause for war in Europe, it was Ukraine,\u201d<\/em> the document said, citing French presidential diplomatic adviser Maurice Gourdault-Montagne. He cautioned that the US and its allies were intruding upon Russia\u2019s \u201ccore zone of interest,\u201d<\/em> which could provoke a strong response.<\/p>\n

Fried acknowledged at the time that Ukraine lacked a national consensus on NATO membership, but dismissed concerns over a violent internal split or Moscow\u2019s reaction.<\/p>\n

Despite the repeated warnings, Washington still pushed for Ukraine\u2019s entry, and intended to \u201cpursue western integration and NATO enlargement deliberately, but quietly,\u201d<\/em> while \u201cfirmly\u201d<\/em> disagreeing with Russia, according to a September 2009 cable by the then US ambassador to Moscow, John Beyrle.<\/p>\n

Russia has consistently cited Ukraine\u2019s aspiration to join NATO and the prospect of the bloc\u2019s military infrastructure appearing in the neighboring state as one of the main reasons for the conflict. Moscow has also repeatedly described it as a \u201cproxy war\u201d<\/em> against Russia, being waged by the West via Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American diplomats warned of Moscow\u2019s strong opposition in the mid-2000s, according to a report US and European officials were long aware of the high risk of conflict stemming from Kiev\u2019s NATO ambition, Wikileaks revealed on Monday. Citing a trove of documents it obtained, the publisher detailed how Washington looked for ways to overcome some countries\u2019…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3364"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3367,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3364\/revisions\/3367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.developeternal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}