Monday, October 6, 2025

NEO: NATO is the Trap - Not Moscow: Phil Butler { 02-10-2025 )

Security NATO is the Trap — Not Moscow Phil Butler, October 02, 2025 Western media calls Vladimir Putin’s peace talks a “trap,” but a look at the record reveals a consistent pattern—it was Moscow, not NATO, that repeatedly put peace proposals on the table while warning of the dangers of encirclement. The West is erasing Russian peace initiatives The Japan Times declares it. Politico sings the same hymn. And once again, the message to Western readers is simple: there is no peace doctrine in Moscow, only permanent war, war, and more war! But reality, and the record, tell a different story. The Long Warnings Since the mid-2000s, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeated one theme like a drumbeat: NATO’s relentless eastward push would end in catastrophe. At the 2007 Munich Security Conference, he said it flat out: “NATO expansion is a serious provocation that reduces the level of mutual trust. And we have the right to ask, Against whom is this expansion intended?” He was ignored. Worse, he was mocked. When the Aegis Ashore missile systems were planted in Romania and Poland, Washington called them “purely defensive.” Moscow saw the installations for what they were—dual-use launchers capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles at Russian cities. In 2016, Putin said: “We know what is inside; we can see from the outside. And we know that this is not defense. This is an attempt to break the strategic balance.” These were not idle words. These were clear warnings of escalation, warnings brushed aside by American and European leaders convinced that Russia would swallow humiliation indefinitely. The West has built a machine that cannot live without an enemy. And so long as that machine runs, every Russian offer will be dismissed as deception Euromaidan and the Second Cold War Then came Kyiv, 2014. Western officials, NGOs, and intelligence hands backed the Maidan uprising, parading it as a democratic revolution. What they delivered instead was rupture: a violent ousting of an elected president, a civil war in Donbass, and, worse, the permanent militarization of Ukraine. Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, still points back to that moment: “It is not Russia that does not want peace. It is the NATO bloc that ignited Euromaidan without Ukraine’s future in mind at all.” (TASS, July 2025) From Moscow’s perspective, Cold War 2 did not begin with the tanks rolling across the border in 2022. It began with NATO’s insistence that Ukraine and Georgia would one day join the alliance, with missile systems pressed up against Russia’s western flank, and with a coup dressed as democracy in Kyiv. Those of us who have researched and reported objectively on it for a decade we understand – no, we know the truth. The Peace Packages Nobody Mentions The West’s media insists Russia has no peace doctrine, only aggression. Yet Moscow has tabled written proposals repeatedly. December 2021: Russia published draft treaties with the United States and NATO, built on the principle of indivisible security. The language was blunt: no NATO membership for Ukraine, no foreign bases, and legally binding guarantees to roll back missile deployments. March 2022: In Istanbul, negotiators from Moscow and Kyiv initialed a draft agreement. Ukraine would remain neutral, with no foreign troops or bases and security guarantees from major powers. Western commentators now pretend that text never existed. July 2025: Lavrov again put the package on the table: a neutral, non-aligned, nuclear-free Ukraine; international recognition of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson as Russian; lifting of sanctions and return of seized assets; respect for Russian language and culture; and peace that is lasting, not a temporary pause to rearm. These may be terms the West finds unacceptable. But to pretend they do not exist, to claim Russia has offered nothing but “traps,” is dishonest. These accusations against Russia are a reversal of truth – a dangerous lie. The Pattern of Erasure Consider the coverage on all this. Politico insists “Putin cannot end his war with the West” because his survival depends on it. The Japan Times claims, “Putin’s negotiations are a trap.” Both cite Western intelligence chiefs who argue Moscow uses talks only as camouflage. But neither acknowledges the 2021 draft treaties, the Istanbul text, or the TASS interview where Lavrov spelled out specific demands. That is not journalism. That is erasure. By stripping the record of actual documents and actual statements, Western outlets transform negotiation terms into proof of bad faith. What is a maximalist bargaining position becomes, in their telling, evidence of endless war. The frame is preordained: Putin cannot be sincere; therefore, any offer must be a trap. Anyone familiar with the situation, especially those in the U.S. State Department, knows full well it’s the West aiming to bleed Russia. What Moscow Says, Again and Again Putin himself has repeated the same idea for nearly two decades: Russia will not accept strategic encirclement. In June 2022, after NATO pledged more arms to Ukraine, he warned: “We are not threatening anyone, but we know that the West has crossed every red line we have drawn. This leaves us no choice but to act.” And again in 2023, he reminded the waiting world: “The world must return to the principle of indivisible security, where no one ensures their safety at the expense of others. This principle has been torn apart by NATO’s expansion.” You can call these statements propaganda. But they are not silent. They are not an absence of doctrine. They are not nothing. They are, in fact, the through-line in Russia’s diplomacy since 2007. You don’t have to take my word for any of this; the truth is right out in front for anyone willing to play the Devil’s advocate for 10 minutes. The Real Trap So whose trap is this war? If you listen to Brussels or Tokyo, the trap is Russia’s: pretend to talk peace while preparing for more war. But if you look at the record, the trap is NATO’s: promise “defense” while marching missile systems eastward; celebrate “democracy” while backing coups; cry for “sovereignty” while treating Ukraine as expendable frontline territory. That is the trap that has ensnared Europe. A permanent Cold War 2, with Ukraine as its sacrifice zone, and the Atlantic bloc congratulating itself for “standing firm.” It is not Russia that refuses peace. Moscow has tabled its terms again and again—neutrality, non-alignment, recognition of realities on the ground, and security guarantees for all parties. Whether the West accepts those terms is another matter. But to erase them from the record and declare that negotiations are only a trap is to lie to readers. The truth is simpler and more dangerous. The West has built a machine that cannot live without an enemy. And so long as that machine runs, every Russian offer will be dismissed as deception, every document buried, and every warning mocked. Why haven’t Donald Trump or anyone on the NATO side discussed the Russian terms? Why doesn’t the New York Times do the Quid pro quo journalism it once did? There is no objectivity or even caring anymore. It’s narrative, the West’s narrative; take it or leave it. But history will remember who spoke and who pretended not to hear. Phil Butler is a policy investigator and analyst, a political scientist and expert on Eastern Europe, and an author of the recent bestseller “Putin’s Praetorians” and other books Follow new articles on our Telegram channel More on this topic The Woke West Can’t Recognize Real Nazis Bryan Anthony Reo Inga Koryagina: “In the new era of conscious unity, the primary value is the human being” Yuliya Novitskaya The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: How Russia and the West Shape Different Realities Phil Butler Afghanistan, Israel, and the moral bankruptcy of the Euro-American Empire Mohamed Lamine KABA 7 AfD Deaths: Fake News—or the Uncomfortable Truth Hiding in Plain Sight? Jeffrey Silverman Tags: Disinformation, NATO, Russia, Russia s Special Military Operation, Western Democracy About Contact Us Contributors Home Politics Economy Security Society Asia Americas Africa Oceania Europe Interviews Publications X Telegram GAB Vkontakte OK Network edition New Eastern Outlook 2010-2025 Republishing of the articles is welcomed with reference to NEO. The views of the authors do not necessarily coincide with the opinion of the editorial board. Институт востоковедения РАН

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