NATO does not participate in the Ukraine war, so it cannot lose it

By Vistinomer On Feb 21, 2025 0

Photo: Wilfried Pohnke auf Pixabay

A Facebook post claims that NATO lost the war in Ukraine, but the alliance is not participating in it, and it’s unclear how Russia has won either. Russia doesn’t even have full control over the territories it illegally annexed, such as the cities of Zaporozhye and Kherson. Neither Kiev, Kharkiv, nor Zelensky have fallen, and instead of Ukraine being demilitarized, it has become more militarized. What the proposed peace plan might bring is unclear, but even if it prevents Ukraine from joining NATO, it would not be a defeat for the alliance, which has not insisted on Ukraine’s membership

A Facebook post claims that NATO lost the war in Ukraine, but the alliance is not participating in it, and it’s unclear how Russia has won either. Russia doesn’t even have full control over the territories it illegally annexed, such as the cities of Zaporozhye and Kherson. Neither Kiev, Kharkiv, nor Zelensky have fallen, and instead of Ukraine being demilitarized, it has become more militarized. What the proposed peace plan might bring is unclear, but even if it prevents Ukraine from joining NATO, it would not be a defeat for the alliance, which has not insisted on Ukraine’s membership

A Facebook post begins in the following way:

Trump’s “peace plan” is his exit strategy and cover-up of the fact that NATO just lost the war in Ukraine (after Afghanistan).

NATO is not a belligerent in Ukraine, so it cannot lose the war. There have been no reports of fighting between Russian and American or other NATO troops on Ukrainian soil. Instead, the Kremlin has circulated fake news, such as claims that “French troops arrived in Slavyansk” or that “an American general was captured in Mariupol.” These fabricated stories are intended to justify Russia’s failures by suggesting that while it could easily defeat the Ukrainians, it is unfortunately forced to battle a coalition of NATO members.

If we consider NATO’s support for the Ukrainians to be participation in the war, then by that logic Belarus (a springboard for Russian aggression) and Iran (which supplies Russia with Shahed drones, ballistic missiles, etc.) are also fighting against Ukraine. It is much more reasonable to say that North Korean troops are fighting for Russia than to say that NATO is fighting for Ukraine.

Donald Trump wants the war to end, but not because he is losing it, but because he is lenient towards Russia, which was even accused of meddling in his 2016 election victory, and because he is more of an isolationist focused on issues other than Ukraine (particularly China).

And so, if “NATO is defeated”, how did Vladimir Putin win? He did not carry out the planned “denazification” (overthrow and lustration of the government in Kyiv, which he falsely portrayed as “Nazi”), nor the planned demilitarization (weakening of Ukrainian forces).

Putin was defeated in the battles for Kyiv and Kharkiv, Zelensky was not overthrown, and Ukraine is not demilitarized, but even more militarized and it even occupied part of the Russian Kursk Region.

Putin does not have big military successes, only ones in small places in the Donbas, such as Kurakhove, among others, so he hopes to secure victory at the negotiating table, so that through Trump, who blackmails Ukraine with military aid, he will impose on it: to give up territories, to reduce the army, to withdraw from the Kursk Region and to hold elections, hoping that Zelensky will lose them. But that is not a military victory.

Also, the peace treaty has not been finalized yet, but there are some rumors about it. Putin’s condition will undoubtedly be that Ukraine does not join NATO, but since the alliance has never insisted on Ukraine’s membership, this would not be a defeat for it. France and Germany opposed Ukraine’s entry as early as 2008, and that opposition has only grown stronger in the current wartime context. While several NATO members support Ukraine’s eventual accession, they envision it happening at a more favorable and unspecified time.

Let’s also point out that Russia illegally annexed Crimea and the regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson, but most of them were not fully occupied, in addition to losing some (sources: 1, 2, 3), so if the peace plan involves everyone keeping only what they currently control, as seems likely, Russia will have to forget about a significant portion of those “claimed” territories, which would be a defeat for them.

At the same time as they seek peace (or armistice) with Russia, they are selling more weapons to the allies, the post says.

The US is negotiating peace, not seeking peace with Russia, because it is not at war with Russia. The post deals with some imaginary plan for a sneak attack on Russia by Washington’s allies, to whom Washington allegedly “gives more and more weapons” while pretending to be in favor of peace in front of Russia, but, in reality, Russia is the one who initiated the aggression by attacking Ukraine back in Crimea in 2014.

Europe is concerned about this, so it is only natural that it should strengthen its defense by purchasing weapons. The US wants Europe not to rely on it for its defense, so it needs more weapons, which the US can sell to whomever and however much it wants. The US doesn’t have to apologize to Russia for that. Moreover, the peace plan was initiated by the US, not by Putin, so why would the US want war?

What is left of Ukraine has already been sold off and plundered by Western corporations, including the fertile soil, the post says.

Truthmeter.mk has already written on the topic of such disinformation. The plundering is not done by Western corporations, but by Russia through aggression, occupation and annexation. And, if by “what is left of Ukraine” the post means the part of it that is not under Russian occupation, let’s emphasize that according to UN resolutions 68/262 and ES-11/4, Ukraine is whole, and the annexation is null.

What a tragic fate for a country that suffered because it failed to realize the immense cost of NATO membership, the post says.

Ukraine suffered from Russian imperialism even before NATO existed (for example, Tsarist Russia abused the Pereyaslav Agreement of 1654 to subjugate Ukraine, and in 1918-1922 Soviet Russia bloodily suppressed the independent Ukrainian People’s Republic). Furthermore, most of the NATO member states entered the pact without much trouble.

It is not as if Belgium or the Netherlands suffered from it. There are NATO members that have suffered from right-wing dictatorships (Portugal, Greece, and Turkey), but these are exceptions. Most Western countries lived very well, unlike those in the Warsaw Pact under Moscow’s yoke (examples: here and here).

Zelensky’s already been used… you know what… the post says.

Zelensky is not being used, but is doing what he swore to do when he was elected as president, to defend Ukraine from the aggressor.

Traditionally, the US (as the leader of the Alliance) would make a wreck, leaving the Europeans to clean it up, the post reads.

According to the aforementioned rumors, the reconstruction of Ukraine will be dealt with by the EU, but the “wreck” in Ukraine was not made by the United States, but by Russia. It is destroying and massacring Ukraine. The post offers no evidence or examples that Europeans would normally clean up when this happened.

But Putin was right when he said that soon all European leaders will lick Trump’s feet like poodles, the post reads.

This is somewhat wrong, but it’s still wrong. At the same time, Putin had the following to say in relation to Trump:

Soon they will all stand at the master’s feet and gently wag their tail

Moreover, the post rejoices over the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, but it is known as the “Graveyard of Empires” and it was also where Russia was defeated as part of the USSR (1979-1989), thus the euphoria of victory in this pro-Russian-leaning post is unfounded.

Taking all of this into account, we assess the post as untrue.

All comments and remarks regarding this and other Vistinomer articles, correction and clarification requests as well as suggestions for fact-checking politicians’ statements and political parties’ promises can be submitted by using this form