NATO prefers prolonging Ukraine crisis over negotiation: Jeffrey Sachs

By Al Mayadeen English

Jeffrey Sachs, a prominent economist and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, issues a warning about NATO's joint statement. 

A prominent economist and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Jeffrey Sachs, told Sputnik, on Thursday, that NATO exhibited no interest in seeking a negotiated resolution to the war in Ukraine at this week's Washington summit. He added that the alliance instead presented a plan that would extend the crisis.

On Wednesday, NATO issued a joint Washington Summit Declaration detailing the alliance's initiatives to further isolate Russia, strengthen security on its eastern flank, enhance security assistance for Ukraine, and assert that Ukraine is on an "irreversible path" to joining NATO, among other measures.
 
"It expresses zero interest or intention on finding a negotiated solution for Ukraine," Sachs stressed.

"Instead, it doubles down on Ukraine’s irreversible course to NATO membership, which will never happen because of Russia’s opposition, but which will needlessly and recklessly prolong the current war," he added.

Sachs further stated that NATO wrongly places all the blame for the Ukraine war on Russia, completely disregarding the 2014 coup, the collapse of the Minsk Agreement, and the drive for NATO expansion.

NATO's joint declaration reaffirms neoconservative US hegemony

Elsewhere in his remarks, he emphasized that NATO's recent joint declaration represents a clear neoconservative reaffirmation of US hegemony.

"The NATO Declaration is a stark neoconservative recommitment to US hegemony. It calls for NATO to back the 'rules-based order,' which is actually the US-based order that is often directly contrary to the UN Charter," Sachs stressed. 
 
Sachs noted that the declaration portrays NATO as a defensive force, despite its repeated involvement in offensive regime-change operations in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Serbia, Libya, Ukraine, and others.

Furthermore, he explained that NATO's declaration reiterates Article 10 of the Washington Treaty, asserting that Russia has no say in NATO's expansion around its borders.

Additionally, the renowned economist mentioned that NATO's joint statement emphasizes its commitment to advanced biotechnologies, raising concerns about potential biowarfare.

He also noted that the declaration highlights NATO's plan to continue deploying anti-ballistic missiles across Europe, as previously done in Poland, Romania, and Turkey, a move that has destabilized the nuclear arms control framework since the United States' unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002.

This is happening as the White House has announced that starting in 2026, the United States will intermittently deploy its Multi-Domain Task Force's long-range fire capabilities in Germany.

Simultaneously, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov expressed concerns, stating that the US plans to deploy intermediate- and shorter-range missiles in Germany directly threaten international security and heighten the risk of a missile arms race.