Norwegian general calls on NATO to open doors for Russia

January 11 2022

Russia views NATO's eastward expansion as a threat to its existence. Therefore, if the West does not change its attitude to this problem, the world is likely to quickly slide into even greater confrontation, writes the retired Norwegian Lieutenant General Robert Mood in an article for the newspaper Aftenposten (Norway).

Over the past three decades, i.e. after the end of the cold war, no new effective instruments for resolving conflicts have been created in the world. At the same time, the mechanisms developed after the Second World War actually ceased to perform their functions properly. At the same time, due to arrogance and self-admiration, the West practically ceased cooperation with Russia.

The NATO-Russia Council does not seem to be a good platform for communication and joint decision-making. And this despite the ambitious goal of its creation. NATO decides everything there. At the meetings, Russia is criticized regularly and almost ritually. This, of course, looks more like humiliation of Russia than dialogue and camaraderie with it.

- notes the author.

Mood noticed that he did not remember at least one Western film or TV series, where Russians would be shown from the good side. As a result, the image of Russia in the form of an "abode of evil" prevails in European and American society.

The former military man does not idealize Russia. He believes that it is unnecessary to distort reality and replace it with something incomprehensible. Russia has something to criticize for, but turning it into the world's main villain is overkill, just like portraying the United States and NATO as the main defenders of freedom and democracy.

The West needs to break out of the shackles of its own stereotypes and find a reasonable option for bypassing the Russian "red lines" without violating the right of states to sovereign choice. This can be done using the experience of the twentieth century, when the main recipe was mutual respect, personal diplomacy and the involvement of all parties in dialogue.

Perhaps it is worth creating new institutions or fundamentally reforming existing ones? And is NATO really focusing more on defense and opening doors for everyone, including Russia, urging the participants to abandon bases and nuclear weapons outside their own territory?

- he argues.

Mood is convinced that the current mindset is dangerous and could lead to World War III.

Photos used: Forsvarsdepartementet i Noreg

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Offline Orange bigg

Orange bigg (Alexander ) 11 January 2022 22: 08

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What misplaced fantasies? It's as if the Soviet Union was invited to join the Third Reich. Thank you. Let someone else carry the chestnuts out of the fire for the United States.

Russia's entry into NATO in the form of a sovereign and independent state is impossible, Konstantin Sivkov, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, retired captain of the first rank, told the Radiotochka NSN Telegram channel.

“First of all, this is absolutely impossible. Unfortunately, the lieutenant general, with all due respect to his epaulettes and authority, does not have the proper knowledge in the field of geopolitics. NATO was created against Russia, and today it is an instrument against Russia. To join NATO, Russia must stop being Russia and stand under the protectorate of the United States as the main battering ram against China. With the current political elites claiming Russia's sovereign position in the world, this is impossible. The main conflict between Russia and Europe was that our elite, unlike the European one, did not want to be under US protectorate, and tried to pursue an independent policy, and continues to pursue it. Therefore, if Russia entered NATO in the form in which it is now, then NATO as a capable organization would cease to exist, "he said.
According to the expert, the hypothetical entry of the Russian Federation into the North Atlantic Alliance would hardly improve the country's position in the international arena.

“If Russia joined NATO, it would increase our security, we could block the conduct of various actions against us. Although it should be noted that such actions within NATO would require that American bases appear on Russian territory, since the United States is the dominant country in NATO, and this would immediately become a threat to both security and sovereign politics. Russia can join NATO only in the form of a defeated and defeated country, so this is impossible in principle, ”concluded Sivkov.

https://nsn.fm/policy/glavnyi-taran-protiv-kitaya-voennyi-ekspert-predpolozhil-plany-nato-na-rossiu
1. Offline Pishenkov
  
  Pishenkov (Alexey) 11 January 2022 23: 23
  
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  ... well, this thought, in fact, is not new. And the USSR itself once offered itself to join NATO, and the Russian Federation. But at the moment the situation is clearly not the same - internal contradictions, already ideological, one might say, have formed and deepened so much that this idea at the moment is more than utopian - stupid, I would say. Rather, as in the famous Soviet film: "you better come to us," those who are still able to think soberly, welcome to the CSTO
  1. Offline Oleg Rambover
    
    Oleg Rambover (Oleg Pitersky) 12 January 2022 00: 22
    
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    Quote: Pyshenkov
    And the USSR itself once offered itself to join NATO, and the Russian Federation.
    
    And the RF when?
    
    Quote: Pyshenkov
    Korea, as in the famous Soviet film: "you'd better come to us," those who are still able to think soberly, welcome to the CSTO
    
    Funny. I think they are coping with the protests of their own citizens on their own, even without involving NATO forces.
    1. Offline Pishenkov
      
      Pishenkov (Alexey) 12 January 2022 00: 38
      
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      The USSR submitted an official note in 1954, after the refusal, the Warsaw Pact was created, Putin himself offered this to the Alliance, if I am not mistaken, in 2000. Then there were simply rosy relations ...
      And the Norwegian general, it seems to me, somehow does not speak about the protests of his own citizens when talking about the entry of the Russian Federation into NATO. It's just that the idea at the moment is as comical as the entry of the same Norway into the CSTO. But if no one will see the Russian Federation in NATO in the foreseeable future, then what about some of its current members in the same CSTO or the organization of a similar VD, I don’t know, I don’t know ... especially with regard to Eastern Europe - they must change flags at the moment. it would not be the first time
      1. Offline Oleg Rambover
        
        Oleg Rambover (Oleg Pitersky) 12 January 2022 12: 18
        
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        Quote: Pyshenkov
        Putin himself offered this to the Alliance, if I am not mistaken, in 2000. Then there were simply rosy relations ...
        
        https://lenta.ru/news/2021/11/04/russia_nato/
        Putin was waiting for an invitation, but it turns out he has to ask for it himself.
        
        Quote: Pyshenkov
        But if no one will see the Russian Federation in NATO in the foreseeable future, then what about some of its current members in the same CSTO or the organization of a similar VD, I don’t know, I don’t know ... especially with regard to Eastern Europe - they must change flags at the moment. it would not be the first time
        
        Never say never. Vladimir Vladimirovich will wake up tomorrow on the wrong foot and decide whether to join NATO and go like cute. He also said about the retirement age that he would never raise it.
        And in order for the countries of Eastern Europe to join the CSTO, they must have Russian troops, as the Soviet army stood when it entered the Warsaw Pact. In the foreseeable future, I think this will not happen.
        
        Offline Pishenkov
        
        Pishenkov (Alexey) 12 January 2022 18: 10
        
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        No, the Soviet army should not stand there for this at all, it will be enough to quickly approach In 1944/45, Romanians and Bulgarians, right on their own from Germany, received German tanks and self-propelled guns and aircraft, without even repainting, quickly painted red stars, turned it all in the opposite direction - and hurray! into battle against yesterday's masters and allies forever
        But Putin will not change his mind, this is not the right person. There is such a concept "the role of the individual in history", and so the GDP is in line with Peter the Great, Napoleon, Bismarck, J. Washington, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao ... You can discuss which of them is a positive hero , and who is not, but in any case, these are not the people who can get up on the wrong foot and change their principles ...
        
        Offline Oleg Rambover
        
        Oleg Rambover (Oleg Pitersky) 12 January 2022 22: 01
        
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        You don't tell anyone, but the Warsaw Pact was created in 1955. In 44/45, naive Romanians with Bulgarians (in the sense of their top) hoped that they would be left at the helm. It did not grow together. Although the Finns have succeeded.
        With the retirement age, he changed his mind (which should worry the Russians more than any NATO). Yes, and with the same NATO at first wanted, then did not want to. Maybe he wants to again, they are autocrats.
        What such great accomplishments or great atrocities did he commit that you put him on a par with these people? For me, the dullness is so common. There is a wagon and a small cart like this all over the world.
        
        Offline Pishenkov
        
        Pishenkov (Alexey) 12 January 2022 22: 41
        
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        1. I didn't understand something, what did you mean with VD? Well, in 1955, what? Were you embarrassed by the application to NATO a year earlier? So now, by the way, about the same game is taking place in Brussels - we know in advance that our conditions will not be accepted. And then it was the same.
        2. By retirement age: with an increase in life expectancy and, unfortunately, not an increase, at least proportionally, in the birth rate, an increase in PV is an inevitable step, and in all developed countries that have state pension systems, it has already been. Speculation on this topic is either stupidity or pure populism.
        3. If many do not get it, then in the event of a political defeat for the Russian Federation at the moment (the issue of NATO, geopolitics "no one needs", etc.), no one will have any pensions at all. Isn't that clear? Remember the nineties, if, of course, your age allows you.
        4. Whether you like it or not, Putin is one of the greatest politicians not only of our time, but of history in general. And even absolutely all of his enemies admit it. No wonder that their main goal is to get rid of it. They believe that this is how Russia can be finished off, and, unfortunately, they are not far from the truth. To pull a huge country out of collapse and devastation, to restore, and even grow in territories (I am already silent that it was not 200-300 years ago, although even then it was a great achievement, but today) are these not great achievements for a politician? Well then, Peter the Great, and Hitler, and Napoleon and Stalin, too, are so-so little people ...
        If you are not able to understand this, then ... See the theory of the emergence of conflicts ...
        Maybe you have such a relation to GDP against the background, excuse me, of a complex of its own insignificance? Well, you shouldn't worry about this - not all of us are great world leaders ...
        
        Offline Oleg Rambover
        
        Oleg Rambover (Oleg Pitersky) 13 January 2022 02: 02
        
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        1. We discussed joining the Warsaw Pact. What does '45 have to do with it.
        2. Yes, I don’t argue, only Vladimir Vladimirovich said that while he was president, the retirement age would not be raised. He is still the president, and his age has been raised. And the life expectancy has not grown so much since he said it.
        3. This does not reach many, but the confrontation with the West of the Russian Federation is not able to win for objective reasons. As the USSR could not.
        4. Dadada, the Great Russian Elbasy. Only the departure of such elbasy from power is usually accompanied by all sorts of sausages with the return of the 90s, the recent history of the Kazakh elbasy is an example to you. And leaving, as we know, is inevitable. This is an inherent problem with personalist autocracies. And how many such elbasy are there only in the vastness of the former USSR. And how are all these elbasy different? The same eggs only in profile. The stretching of the country began under Yeltsin. And Belarus left the 90s and Ukraine, and the Baltic States, and Kazakhstan, but they did not have Putin. How so? If it were not for the oil needle, from which Putin has been unable to get off for 20 years, then the life of the Russians would not be very different from the life of the Ukrainians. And how much territory did he give away? And there is great courage to take territory away from failed state states. But now it will poison the relations between our states for many decades. No, this is not a great achievement for today's politician. For a politician of the XNUMXth century, perhaps for today, leave behind a prosperous, stable state. He would be a Russian Park Chung Hee or Lee Kuan Yew, but he clearly will no longer be.
        Peter the founder of the empire, the reformer who gave impetus to the development of Russia, Hitler the greatest villain of all times and peoples through whose fault seas of blood were shed, Napoleon the conqueror of Europe, Stalin the winner in the greatest war of all times and peoples, the creator of the Soviet empire (which, however, collapsed 40 years after him ) and wrest Crimea from Ukraine in a state of turmoil. Do you think these are phenomena of the same order? Oh well.
        
        Quote: Pyshenkov
        Maybe you have such an attitude towards GDP against the background, excuse me, of a complex of your own insignificance? Well, you shouldn’t worry about this - not all of us can be great world leaders ...
        
        Yes, I don’t have such a complex, I’m worried that our president would not have a Napoleon complex. Usually such complexes lead the country to sad consequences.
        
        Offline Pishenkov
        
        Pishenkov (Alexey) 13 January 2022 12: 45
        
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        Regarding point 1 - I was completely confused: I started with the fact that BE countries quickly change flags, 45 years old as an example (but he is not the only one), then you somehow "hinted" that the VD was created at 55? And what?
        2. I will not lie, how and what the GDP promised on pensions, I don’t know - I didn’t follow this somehow then. BUT I know that this step is inevitable
        3. As for the superiority over the West - in your west, like many, there is some kind of enchanted faith. Upset - the West has already lost. And you will see this in the next max 10 years. And not Russia. It's just that his time is over, burned out from the inside, like the USSR once did. The benefit of the Russian Federation will be to prevent itself from being dragged into this fall. By the way, I'm not particularly happy about this - I like Western civilization as such, and it's a pity that it is falling ...
        4. Under Yeltsin, there was no upsurge from the word at all, it began with strength after 2005. Individuals also played in Belarus and Kazakhstan - immediately after the collapse of the union in Belarus, the fervor was a complete collapse, I saw it myself. Luca really pulled out. Elbasy is also a democrat
        About the role of the individual - to destroy something, a building, a family, a working company, even the state - you don't need a lot of cleverness. It is difficult to build from scratch, to keep it in working order is even more difficult, but to create something on the wreckage of a broken one, at least no worse than what it was, this is aerobatics. Something faster than GDP was demonstrated only by Adolf Aloizych (I apologize for remembering him so often), albeit in a different situation, by different methods and in an initially much more united and organized country
        Territories, as a rule, are taken from those states that, for one reason or another, are put in a fail state position
        And with danger, yes, here you are right, and I said that too. With the departure of great personalities, there is a threat of collapse. And now this will be the main challenge for the Russian Federation, and not confrontation with the West. We, at the moment, are already winning it
        
        Offline Oleg Rambover
        
        Oleg Rambover (Oleg Pitersky) 13 January 2022 22: 33
        
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        Quote: Pyshenkov
        then what about some of its current members in the same CSTO or an organization similar to the VD
        
        You yourself started talking about the Warsaw Pact. And the flags were changed there under the close supervision of the Soviet army.
        2. Google to the rescue
        
        Offline Pishenkov
        
        Pishenkov (Alexey) 13 January 2022 22: 54
        
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        On the first question, you already have some sort of mess there, they started about Foma, and finished about Yeryoma. About the entry of the Russian Federation into NATO, this was one thing, but its members in the "type" of the new VD is another. I just didn't understand this
        
        You don't tell anyone, but the Warsaw Pact was created in 1955
        
        - what is it for? I didn't seem to dispute that. And as for the change of flags - of course, the USSR army was strong, they hung out red, destroyed the Union, the Americans remained in Europe - they hung out striped. Right now we are hanging the States, they will change it again, why is it incomprehensible? Their fate is
        And Putin and pensions - well, yes, in 2005 I was mistaken to see. Also a person. However, 15 years have passed since then. In life and the economy, a lot of things have changed dramatically during this time. By the way, I think that at that time he himself did not imagine that he would be president for so long
        But, and here you are right, and I am of the same opinion - it is very dangerous for us to change a strong leader. I personally am not even sure that he wants to continue to be one. But knowing that there is no adequate replacement, and that everything can really fall apart without it, it holds on. And, many do not understand this and do not believe in it - with him it is definitely not about countless wealth, etc., but about business. And his great brothers, whom I wrote about earlier, were the same. These are miserable concepts of those who themselves dig loot all the time ... By the way, I understand him, I myself was in such a situation. Not a country, of course ruled , but the alignment was one to one - and it seemed already tired of what I wanted to achieve, but it’s a shame to leave, knowing that everything achieved without me can fall apart and even the enemies will take advantage of it ...
        And ... I already propose to end this discussion. It seems to me that you have already practiced enough in argumentation, but I am no longer interested.
        As for the article, I'm serious - try it and see what your arguments are worth ...
        
        Offline Oleg Rambover
        
        Oleg Rambover (Oleg Pitersky) 13 January 2022 22: 57
        
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        3. Let's wait and see. Here I have a small selection
        
        In our sincere friendly and close relations with the West, we do not notice that we are dealing as if with a person who carries an evil, contagious disease, surrounded by an atmosphere of dangerous breath. We kiss with him, hug, share a meal of thought, drink a cup of feeling ... and do not notice the hidden poison in our careless communication, we do not smell in the fun of the feast of the future corpse, which he already smells of.
        
        S. P. Shevyreva 1841
        
        Quote: Pyshenkov
        In order to understand for oneself the essence of the fatal upheaval that Europe has now entered, this is what you should say to yourself. For a long time already in Europe there are only two real forces - the revolution and Russia. These two forces are now opposed to one another, and, perhaps, tomorrow they will enter into a struggle. Between them, no negotiations, no treatises are possible; the existence of one of them is tantamount to the death of the other! The entire political and religious future of mankind depends for many centuries on the outcome of the struggle that has arisen between them, the greatest struggle that the world has ever witnessed.
        No - this is impossible ... Thousands of years of presentiments cannot deceive. Russia, a believing country, will not feel a lack of faith at a decisive moment. She will not be intimidated by the greatness of her calling and will not retreat before her assignment.
        And when could this calling have been clearer and more obvious? We can say that the Lord inscribed it in fiery letters in this sky, darkened by storms ... The West disappears, everything collapses, everything perishes in this general inflammation. Europe of Charlemagne and the Europe of treatises of 1815, the Roman papacy and all the Western kingdoms, Catholicism and Protestantism, faith long lost and reason reduced to meaninglessness, order is now unthinkable, freedom is now impossible, and above all these ruins, created by it, civilization killing herself with her own hands ...
        And when, over this tremendous collapse, we see this empire emerging with the holy ark, even more immense, then who dares to doubt its vocation, and should we, her sons, show ourselves as unbelievers and cowardly?
        
        Tyutchev "Russia and Revolution" 1848
        
        The front of the second imperialist war is ever expanding. One nation after another is drawn into it. Humanity is heading towards great battles that will unleash a world revolution. The end of this second war will be marked by the final rout of the old, capitalist world. And between the two millstones - the Soviet Union, menacingly rising in all its gigantic growth, and the indestructible wall of revolutionary democracy, rising to its aid - the remnants of the capitalist system will be turned into dust and dust.
        
        V. P. Potemkin 1938
        Nothing new under the moon ...
        The Russian state has already collapsed a couple of times, and the "west" is rotting.
        And you are right not to rejoice, the first to feel the collapse of the "west" resource-based economies. In addition, by and large, today there is no "west" and no west. It's all one civilization. The center of this civilization can only shift. But one must understand that the last attempt to shift this center was in 1939-1945. Moreover, the USSR in these showdowns between Germany and England were on the sidelines. But the focus has shifted to the US. So be careful in your dreams.
        
        Offline Oleg Rambover
        
        Oleg Rambover (Oleg Pitersky) 13 January 2022 23: 27
        
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        4. Under Yeltsin, the economy grew, there was a failure in 97, then growth again. What fundamentally changed Putin with his arrival? The oligarchs to whom he owed his arrival, the oligarchs who owe him their fortune? Hanging world oil prices? What accomplishments did he make?
        We had the good fortune to observe the gratitude of citizens in Belarus and Kazakhstan quite recently. Stalin, Pak Chung Hee, Lee Kuan Yew, Poland, the Baltic states, and even Kazakhstan overtook the Russian Federation much faster. This development (based on oil yeast, the curse of Russia) has not been around for ten years.
        The problem with autocrat Putin is not only that he has led the country into stagnation, but also that he has built a system for himself, which is usual for autocracies. And the transit of power in such systems most often goes as a shock. Whether the Elbasy of Kazakhstan is alive now, no one knows, and the coup was staged not by agents of the State Department, but by his associates. Nothing foretells that it will be different with our Elbasy.

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gorskova.ir (Irina Gorskova) 11 January 2022 22: 37

Plunged into dizziness from the imaginary successes in the collapse of the USSR, the West and, above all, the United States lost ground under their feet. Having upset the balance of power, everyone went downhill. But then someone retained a reasonable perception and began to scramble out. And the "exceptional" themselves cannot stop, so they also pull the rest of them. They are not even able to evaluate the proposed negotiations. The Norwegian expressed some sound thoughts. But if our people join NATO, then what will the imaginary "hegemons" do?

Rusa 11 January 2022 23: 43

It is good that there are sane people in Europe, such as General Robert Maud from Norway.

Offline Pishenkov

Pishenkov (Alexey) 12 January 2022 00: 45

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yes, but it's bad that there are very few of them and they are all out of work or retired, like him ...

123 (123) 12 January 2022 01: 55

Maybe it's time for Norway to think about joining the CSTO?

shinobi (Yuri) 12 January 2022 09: 50

Retirement, that says it all. They all see clearly and wisdom after retirement. Only who listens to them

Baltika3 (Baltika3) 13 January 2022 16: 18

retired lieutenant general

Yeah, the retired general needed money. He also agreed, I suppose, from his own: "Yes, take it and tell who cares. Just pay the tax."