Cornel West Blames NATO for Russia's War With Ukraine

Third-party presidential candidate Cornel West suggested Tuesday that NATO was just as culpable for the Ukraine war as the Kremlin, calling the alliance an "expanding instrument" of Western imperialism that "provoked" the Russian invasion.

In a Tuesday post to his social media pages, West—a leftist philosopher and academic running on a fierce anti-war platform—said that ongoing efforts by NATO allies to arm Ukraine represented a policy of escalation that, if left unresolved, "could lead to World War III."

The latest alleged escalation came earlier this week after NATO-allied Turkey and U.S. President Joe Biden said they would support providing cluster munitions to the Ukrainian military to resist the Russians' offensive. Use of the weapons is outlawed by some 123 countries.

Such a deal, West said, was a step too far. His remarks mirrored rhetoric from Russian state media and President Vladimir Putin, who have said their country was justified in breaking international law to launch a preemptive assault on Ukraine and stand up to the West.

"NATO is an expanding instrument of U.S. global power that provoked Russia into a criminal invasion and occupation of Ukraine," wrote West, who is seeking the Green Party's presidential nomination.

He continued: "This proxy war between the American Empire and the Russian Federation could lead to World War III. We must stop the war and war crimes (including cluster bombs used by all parties) and embark on diplomatic talks that should lead to a just peace."

He then quoted a line from author W.E.B. Du Bois, saying, "I seem to see outlined a third World War based on the suppression of Asia and the strangling of Russia."

He went on: "The Democratic Party is a party of war and Wall Street targeting Russia and China. Let us save our democracy and world by dismantling U.S. militarism at home (as in Cop Cities) and abroad—as Martin Luther King Jr. painfully reminded us!"

Newsweek has reached out to West's campaign via email for comment.

West has long been a critic of Putin, describing him as a "gangster" and "criminal" in past interviews. Since the Ukraine invasion, he has been opposed to foreign involvement in the country, calling for a cessation of all U.S. military aid abroad as part of his platform.

However, his comments come amid increasing global scrutiny of NATO as its members weigh admitting Ukraine into the alliance during a two-day summit this week. Such a move, Biden has suggested, could draw the U.S. and other Western nations into a larger role in the war.

The U.S. and bordering nations have provided significant military aid to Ukraine—NATO recently approved training Ukrainian pilots on American-made F-16 fighter jets. In February 2022, Biden pledged the U.S. and its allies will "defend every inch of NATO territory," a scope that will expand if Ukraine joins NATO.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, accused NATO of treating Russia like an "enemy" during a Tuesday news briefing, adding it would respond with any means necessary to protect the nation's security based on the result of NATO's decision on Ukraine.

"Russia is perceived by them [NATO leaders] as an enemy, as an adversary," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

"We are monitoring this very carefully because much of what has been said will be subject to in-depth analysis in order to take measures to ensure our own security," he added.

Biden's decision to provide Ukraine with cluster bombs has also drawn the ire of figures like Donald Trump, who, like West, appears to favor negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to broker a ceasefire.

"There could be no more vivid proof that Joe Biden's policy of endless war in Ukraine has tremendously weakened the United States than the humiliating admission that the USA is now out of ammo, something our enemies are undoubtedly salivating over," Trump said in a statement Tuesday.

He went on: "This 'admitted' weakness is an invitation to enemies all over the world. Joe Biden is needlessly and dangerously leading us into World War III, which would be a nightmare beyond imagination—obliteration!

"We must stop this insanity, immediately end the bloodshed in Ukraine, and return to a focus on America's vital interests," Trump said.

Currently, Russia and Ukraine are at an impasse over any possible peace deal. Ukraine opposes any deal that results in the loss of contested territory. Russia—which has been hobbled by severe military casualties and threats of revolt—is refusing to accept any conclusion to the war involving a clean exit from the country.

Neither West nor Trump, meanwhile, has said what they would accept as terms of a ceasefire—only that the U.S. should not be involved.

"I don't think that any empire has the right to protect their sphere of influence in the name of self-defense. That's another rationalization of gangster activity," West said in an interview shortly after the war began in 2022.

"Every empire, every nation can rationalize mistreating folk, killing, in the name of self-defense. We see it in the Middle East, we see it in different parts of the world," he said.