Make Ukraine a NATO member nation...right now.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

Putin is interested in resurrecting the old Soviet-era "sphere of influence". The West is doing the right thing by making it hard for Putin to make headway in Ukraine. With the Ukrainians showing their will to fight, and providing them with modern weapons to defend themselves, Putin may well be denied Ukraine.

However, Putin is also not rational. There is no strategic benefit to the US to making Ukraine a NATO member. If Western European NATO members were pushing hard for it, it might be a different matter. But they're not.

So, if the US lead an effort to push for NATO membership for Ukraine, the US would be left with also having to take the lead in standing up any NATO facilities in Ukraine. No thanks.

It makes perfect sense for Ukraine to be welcomed into NATO after they beat the shit out of Russia, just as Finland and Sweden should be welcome now - the more, the merrier when it comes to opposing Russia's malign influence and imperial ambitions beyond Ukraine in places like Moldova, Belarus, Serbia and the Baltic countries.