Who Will Get The Last Laugh: Russia Or NATO?

The war between Russia and Ukraine is approaching its two-month mark. The severity of fighting has fluctuated between low and high levels. But who is gaining ground and who is losing ground? No one knows what Russian President Vladimir Putin will do, thus there is no definitive answer.

He doesn’t show emotion. There may be a plethora of options available to him, or there may be only one option left: unleashing nuclear power to end the war. But it’s only a guess. The West believed that slapping Putin with economic penalties would force him to submit. That, however, did not occur.

He mocked the West by declaring the sanctions had failed in a televised interaction with top economic officials on April 18. The West considered immediately disturbing the financial-economic situation by causing market turbulence and collapsing the banking system, as well as causing a shortage of supplies and commodities.

Despite the fact that none of these things occurred, the West’s economy is failing. According to him, the sanctions have backfired on the US and its European allies, driving up inflation and decreasing living standards. The changes are plain to see.

At the same time, Putin acknowledged that consumer prices in Russia had risen sharply (17.5 percent) year over year in April.

He has proposed several ways to help him get through the crisis. He never mentioned the trauma that Ukrainians and Russians are experiencing while presenting his observations and facts. He has moved on from the Ukrainian government. The United Nations estimates that five million people have fled Ukraine since the conflict began in February.

To demonstrate its capability, Russia successfully test-fired an intercontinental missile capable of striking targets anywhere on the globe. It also has the ability to avoid any anti-missile defence systems. Following the test, Putin stated that the missiles will make those who attack his country “think twice.”

This suggests that he is now concentrating on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which has 30 members, 28 of whom are from Europe and the remaining two from North America. NATO may appear useless for the time being because it is not entering Ukraine directly to confront Russia. However, if the world’s most powerful alliance decides to demonstrate its might to Moscow, a third world war will erupt. Fighting against NATO’s unified military command system would be tough for Russia.

Ukraine is not Vladimir’s final destination. What will he do with today’s Ukraine, which has been bombed and left in ruins? The majority of the infrastructure facilities have been completely destroyed.

He is merely exploiting Ukraine to subdue the West, which is supported by NATO. Russia cautioned Sweden and Finland not to join NATO on Wednesday. Moscow has warned that if Finland and Sweden join NATO, it will not hesitate to station nuclear weapons near their borders.

Vladimir has every right to be concerned about NATO’s increased activities in the Arctic, which is bordered by eight countries: Canada, Denmark (including the Faroe Islands and Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States (Alaska). NATO also includes the United States, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Canada.

The Arctic Council is a crucial intergovernmental platform where nations can discuss sovereignty issues. The council’s chairmanship is now held by Russia. The other seven members, meanwhile, have voiced their refusal to attend council meetings following the Ukraine war. If NATO did not have its own army and member countries decided to confront Vladimir directly, the situation would be grim.

The long-running NATO exercise to train its armed forces started in March and will continue in April. The military drill in Norway is involving 30,000 troops from 27 countries throughout Europe and North America.

This programme, dubbed “Cold Response 2022,” aids in the preparation of the military to work in extreme cold settings. Despite the fact that this is a biannual exercise hosted by Norway, it has taken on greater significance this year due to the conflict.

Military drills are also taking place in Sweden and Finland. As a result of these developments, Russia has sent a warning to these two countries, telling them not to obstruct NATO’s growth.

Russia is fighting hard in Ukraine because it does not want NATO to mass troops and armaments just 654 kilometres from St. Petersburg, Russia’s cultural centre. It would not be a challenge for Vladimir to outgun the British army or any other smaller countries. However, the United States will always be a difficulty. NATO is mostly funded by the United States.

When looking at military force inventories, the combined West appears to be stronger. On the other hand, warfare is about more than just winning and losing. It’s more about inciting violence and depressing the economy.

In the Ukraine war, the question of who will have the last laugh remains unanswered. However, this is the best time for European countries to shift away from carbon-based fuels and gain independence from Russia.