French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: Andrew Korybko's Newsletter/File photo.
By Andrew Korybko – Feb 27, 2024
NATO is planning for a possible Russian breakthrough across the Line of Contact later this year but isnât yet sure how to react if that happens.
French President Macron hosted over 20 fellow European leaders in Paris on Monday to discuss their next moves in Ukraine, including the possibility of a conventional NATO intervention, which he said they hadnât ruled out for reasons of âstrategic ambiguityâ despite not reaching a consensus on this. His Polish counterpart Duda also confirmed that this subject was the most heated part of their discussions. The very fact that this scenario is being officially considered shows how desperate NATO has become.
Russiaâs victory in Avdeevka, which was the natural result of it winning the ârace of logisticsâ/âwar of attritionâ with NATO, prompted policymakers to contemplate what theyâll do in the event that it achieves a breakthrough across the Line of Contact (LOC) and starts steamrolling through the rest of Ukraine. They hadnât previously considered this to be a serious possibility until last summerâs failed counteroffensive exposed the weakness of their military-industrial complex and tactical-strategic planning.
It’s now a credible scenario thatâs reviving speculation about a Polish-led intervention aimed at drawing a red line in the sand for halting any potential Russian breakthrough before it gets too far. This would preserve the G7âs âsphere of (economic) influenceâ in Ukraine while preventing that former Soviet Republicâs collapse and thus averting another Afghan-like foreign policy disaster for the West. The problem, however, is that Poland also doesnât want to be put up to this only to be hung out to dry.
Although Poland has comprehensively subordinated itself to Germany after the return of Berlin-backed Prime Minister Tusk to power late last year and envisages carving out its own âsphere of influenceâ in Western Ukraine, this doesnât mean that it wants to lead a Western intervention there. The risk of World War III breaking out with Russia by miscalculation is much too high and Poland might fear that NATO wonât activate Article 5 if it clashes with Russia inside Ukraine in order to prevent that from happening.
These concerns could explain why there wasnât any consensus during Mondayâs meeting on this issue since other members wisely wonât want to take the chance of catalyzing an apocalyptic scenario, ergo the reason why the West might be plotting a false flag in Poland to blame on Russia and Belarus. President Lukashenko warned about that in late February, and if it comes to pass, then it could serve as the trigger for pushing Poland into leading a Western intervention in Ukraine without full NATO backing.
Warsaw could be misled to believe without any written guarantees that it has the blocâs support and Article 5 would be activated if its forces clash with Russiaâs there, but only to be hung out to dry if that happens so as to stave off World War III by miscalculation for the greater good. Nevertheless, it would still serve the purpose of drawing a red line in the sand that could halt Russiaâs advance since NATO might escalate via brinksmanship afterwards by promising to activate Article 5 if the clashes continue.
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Poland would also be left to pick up the tab in that event by having to pay the financial and physical costs of this de facto NATO intervention, thus representing an amoral form of âburden-sharingâ that would fall solely on its taxpayers instead of the rest of the blocâs. The farmersâ protests that are rocking that country right now could lead to a full-blown rebellion if that happens since others could join in, however, which the ruling liberal-globalists would prefer not to unfold since they fear that theyâd risk losing power.
Thatâs why theyâre reluctant to lead a Western intervention in Ukraine since thereâs a high chance that itâll backfire on them in particular and Polandâs national interests in general despite being to the benefit of Western hegemony as a whole. Whatever ends up happening, the takeaway from Mondayâs meeting in Paris and the details that were revealed about their discussions is that NATO is planning for a possible Russian breakthrough across the LOC later this year but isnât yet sure how to react if that happens.
Poland could either be pushed to preempt that voluntarily or after being manipulated by the false flag that President Lukashenko warned last week is being plotted, with the second option also potentially being employed right after any breakthrough. If this occurs before NATOâs âSteadfast Defender 2024â drills wrap up in June, then those of the blocâs forces that are presently training in Poland for its largest continental exercises since the Old Cold War could play a pivotal support role or possibly join in as well.
Should a breakthrough occur after those war games end as part of the Russian offensive that Zelensky claimed is being planned for as early as May, however, then Poland probably couldnât count on as much NATO support and would likely be pressured to go it alone (at least at first) with only vague promises. Another possibility is that the exercises are extended, whether in whole or in part, including through the semi-permanent stationing of some other NATO forces like Germanyâs there until the offensive ends.
That might give Poland enough reassurance to take a leap of faith in plunging head-first into Ukraine with the expectation that the rest of NATO will follow even if they purposely lag behind in order to avoid World War III with Russia by miscalculation as was previously explained. It remains to be seen whatâll happen, but as Macron himself said, âwe will do everything needed so Russia cannot win the warâ and this therefore means that NATO will certainly intervene to some extent if Russia breaks through the LOC.
The bloc canât afford another Afghan-like disaster, let alone on European soil in the most geostrategically significant conflict since World War II, which is why it wonât sit idly on the sidelines as Ukraine collapses if thereâs a credible chance of that happening and Russia steamrolling through the ruins. The only reason why theyâre now planning for this is because Russiaâs victory in the ârace of logisticsâ/âwar of logisticsâ makes it conceivable sometime later this year, though it of course canât be taken for granted either.
(Substack)
Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko is an American Moscow-based political analyst specializing in the relationship between the US strategy in Afro-Eurasia, Chinaâs One Belt One Road global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and Hybrid Warfare. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.
