The two countries have been engaged in a conflict with enormous consequences for the world since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has entered its second year. While the fight remains deadly and devastating, no result appears to be on the horizon. It is even the opposite, having redoubled the fight.
In fact, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to extend conscription, according to the British Ministry of Defense (MoD). The Defense Ministry’s latest daily update on this war, published on March 18, stated that Russia is likely to extend conscription to increase its military strength.
The UK government said Russian lawmakers are debating a bill to extend the age of conscription, currently between 18 and 27, to 21 and 30. Many 18-21 year-olds now claim to be exempt from reasons that are in higher education.
A war that gains in intensity
“It is likely that the Russian authorities are preparing to facilitate broader military recruitment to meet their military needs,” the Defense Ministry said. “On March 13, 2023, Russian Duma deputies introduced a bill to change the age range for compulsory military service for men aged 21-30 from the current 18-27 years. pass the law and it would enter into force in January 2024 .
“It is very likely that the authorities will change the age range to increase the number of troops by ensuring that students are ultimately forced to serve. Even if Russia continues to refrain from deploying recruits to the war, additional recruits will release a higher proportion of professional soldiers to fight.” ”, said the Ministry of Defense.
These Russian efforts clearly suggest that an end to the conflict, which has already claimed thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, is not expected any time soon.
It is in this context that Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla (TSLA) – Get a free reportand founder of SpaceX, has just stated that this conflict, which began with the Russian invasion, was inevitable. The billionaire, who supplies Starlink to Ukraine, uses a picture to explain his point.
‘Peace was never an option’
In the image, a chicken is standing in a parking lot, in front of a KFC fast food restaurant. This comes off as a taunt on the part of the chicken, who would normally do anything to never end up anywhere near a KFC, given that the brand’s business is based on a fried chicken concept.
Consequently, being so close to the enemy, the chicken should not be surprised if it ends up paying the consequences at some point. Basically, when fraternizing with the enemy, the chicken should expect some repercussions.
Musk accompanies the image with a phrase: “Peace was never an option,” said the billionaire.
KFC here seems to be the West and especially NATO and the European Union, while the chicken seems to symbolize Ukraine. The chicken has fraternized with the enemy of Russia. Therefore, it was inevitable that Moscow would react.
Musk has been advocating for a peaceful solution to Russia’s war in Ukraine for several months, but his calls remain unsuccessful.
Putin views NATO and the European Union as threats to his country’s sovereignty. In December 2021, Russia had publicly made demands, asking all members of the North Atlantic alliance to commit never to expand NATO again and not to carry out “military activities on the territory of Ukraine and in other countries.” countries of Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia”.
The Kremlin also wanted to ban the United States from establishing military bases in all countries of the former Soviet Union that are not NATO members and even “developing bilateral military cooperation” with these states.
With these demands made publicly, which is unusual in the quiet world of diplomacy, Russia was saying loud and clear that its security was threatened by 30 years of successive expansions of NATO, the powerful American-European military alliance born out of the Cold War and the West’s confrontation with the former Soviet Union.
Moscow made Ukraine’s possible accession a red line. Thus, prior to its invasion of Ukraine, Russia wanted to obtain a clear commitment from the West on Ukraine’s request to join NATO.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the West rapidly expanded its military influence beyond the Iron Curtain. In 1999, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic joined NATO. They were followed in 2004 by Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Since then, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and finally the Republic of North Macedonia, in 2020, have also become members of the Alliance and benefit from its protection in the event of a conflict with a third country.
In little more than 20 years, Russia has witnessed the expansion of NATO in 14 countries that, to a greater or lesser degree, have been within its sphere of influence for decades.
