West should not decide Ukrainians' fate

The European Union deserves respect for its economic and social expansion eastward. But the same cannot be said about its military designs, driven by the United States. In fact, things seem to have taken an ugly turn with five NATO members, some of which are also EU member states, deciding to supply weapons to Ukraine to tackle the rebels in its eastern region.

This is shocking because last month the EU imposed an arms embargo on Russia, against whom the weapons supplied to Ukraine are apparently targeted. And more shockingly, the EU has threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia to restrict its trade.

NATO has decided to supply weapons to Ukraine at a time when Kiev and the Ukrainian rebels have reached a cease-fire agreement. Instead of responding positively to the cease-fire, which was agreed to before the NATO summit was held in Wales, the alliance's leaders announced a series of measures to boost NATO's presence on Russia's doorsteps.