Bush Admits US Broke Promise on NATO Expansion; Says Ukraine Should ‘Destroy as Many Russian Troops’ as Possible

A prankster has duped former U.S. President George W. Bush into admitting the U.S. violated its promise to  former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev not to expand NATO.

By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News

Believing that he was actually speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, former U.S. President George W. Bush has been duped by a prankster into admitting that NATO expansion eastward towards Russia had violated a U.S. promise not to do so. “Listen, times change,” Bush says in a video created by the Russian prankster duo known as Vovan and Lexus. 

After “Zelensky” calls Bush “a very, very wise person,” the former U.S. president says he didn’t want Russia to become a member of NATO either, but rather, “I wanted them on the fringe of NATO. I wanted Ukraine in NATO.” 

Bush tells “Zelensky” that “your mission is to destroy as many Russian troops as you can.” 

He then condemns Russian President Vladimir Putin for essentially putting an end to Wall Street and Washington’s domination of Russia under President Boris Yeltsin. “I thought for a while that Russia would be more cooperative and then Putin changed dramatically,” Bush tells the fake Zelensky. 

NATO’s expansion eastward is one of the causes of the Ukraine war, especially after the West in December rejected Moscow’s treaty proposals for a new security arrangement in Europe. Russian pranksters (who have been banned from YouTube) put out a short video. Here is a longer clip: 

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42 comments for “Bush Admits US Broke Promise on NATO Expansion; Says Ukraine Should ‘Destroy as Many Russian Troops’ as Possible

  1. Kelly Richards
    May 25, 2022 at 06:11

    Sad

  2. Kelly Richards
    May 23, 2022 at 02:56

    Great

  3. Francis Lee
    May 23, 2022 at 02:06

    I think that everything which needed saying has been said. The neo-con clique are in the saddle and taking us to God-knows-where. How did we get to this terminal point in the history of mankind!? Are we feted go up in a global conflagration in the hands of a tiny, tiny, tiny group of demented power-maniacs? What was it all for exactly? After all the painstaking construction of human civilization will have been a wasted. All the world’s culture, art, science, philosophy, literature – was it all for nothing? Apparently yes. It seems that the human race under its present dispensation has a will to destruction, and apparently is not even aware of it.

    But hey, we won’t have to listen to Rachel Maddow any more. There is some justice after all.

  4. Realist
    May 22, 2022 at 16:26

    “Bush tells “Zelensky” that “your mission is to destroy as many Russian troops as you can.” !!!!

    So, just keep killing Russians and leave the rest to your good ol’ Uncle Sam, who’s never done you a real service–EVER– in the entire existence of your people.

    This is nothing less than a call for total war, in other words, World War III, in which Zelensky and Ukraine are mere pawns.

    If “Zelensky” were to really believe that that is his mission, his prime assignment by the West, he would be a traitor to “his” people since it would assure their total decimation.

    Today there is loose talk about Washington wanting Russia’s entire naval fleet sunk, with their promise to do it themselves using stand-off missiles. Do they not understand that there will be a price to pay for such insane and immoral actions? Seems like the kind of provocation they fancy as exciting, or whatever warped emotions they experience from mass killing and destruction, is a certain invitation for a volley of Sarmats, perhaps nuclear tipped, to annihilate the entire Norfolk and/or San Diego naval shipyards. Where does the escalation go from there? Washington was warned up front, that they do not have immunity from reprisal attacks in their isolated North American sanctuary if they participate in the conflict, which they already have in spades. It is not just your foreign pawns who will pay the price for your reckless insanity, President Shrub–which you can go tell President Demento.

    These fools just want to wipe the slate clean. Good luck on your planned restoration, starting with amoebas as the most advanced animal life.

  5. Dave
    May 22, 2022 at 12:38

    Great prank! But I think he should work on his accent. If he’d been pranking anyone even a little bit smarter than GWB it wouldn’t have worked.

    It was better than Dick Van Dyke (bless his heart) in Mary Poppins. But Dick mainly had to fool little kids.

    Still, it was a successful prank nevertheless.

    • Yolanda Johnson
      May 23, 2022 at 06:39

      Only one adult thought Chupacabra was a native Ukrainian speaker.

      Kalen wasn’t much better. Who does he think he is? Boris Alatovkrap?!

  6. LeoSun
    May 22, 2022 at 12:18

    “There are not enough shoes in the universe to respond to this correctly.” Caitlin Johnstone, May 19, 2022.

    (Mrs. Johnstone, “We the People,” second that emotion! TY).

    Vovan & Lexus. “put out a short video.” Follows, a couple of reviews:

    May 18, 2022, NEWSWEEK: “In Tuesday’s 43-second video, Bush says: “I wanted Ukraine into NATO.” The video, backed with dramatic music, shows clips of Bush throughout his presidency, along with violent images of war.

    It’s unclear who Bush is speaking to in each of these snippets, but at one point, the former president appears to say the phrase “Glory to Vovan and Lexus” in Russian. He later says “I’m very proud of you”—though it is again unclear to whom he’s speaking. The video ends with the pranksters on camera.”

    May 19, 2022, TASS, a Russian News Agency: “Responding to the duo’s remark about the Pentagon-funded biolabs in Ukraine, Bush said that he remembered that program well enough. When told that the facilities had been successfully evacuated to safety, he replied that he was glad to hear that and whoever carried it out was a smart individual.

    HEADS UP! “Even more still unpublished extracts from the video call to Bush will be presented in an upcoming episode of the V&L Show on Rutube.” TASS dot com

    “I’ll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office.” Gee Dubyah Bush — An interview with the Jerusalem Post, Washington, D.C.; May 12, 2008

    Anymore, Nobody is seriously shocked or in awe of that Cowboy’s, from Texas, Liberty, Freedom, or the Ultra Expansionism of Hate & War.

    “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.” Gee Dubyah Bush — in parting words to world leaders at his final G-8 Summit, punching the air and grinning widely as those present looked on in shock, Rusutsu, Japan, July 10, 2008.

  7. Vera Gottlieb
    May 22, 2022 at 10:32

    Turd…

  8. May 22, 2022 at 09:25

    Events since 1991 have been moving humanity closer to world war, a cataclysm the superpowers managed to avoid for half a century. For more click on: patternofhistory.wordpress.com

  9. Adama Gert
    May 22, 2022 at 04:39

    It has to be admitted however that the Russians had to be naive in the extreme to trust such an assurance, looking at our history of treaties with Native Americans alone…. How many times did U.S. say: not an inch more west…?

    • Vera Gottlieb
      May 22, 2022 at 10:31

      Sadly, so many people learn the hard way…and not even then. The US prides itself to cheat others.

    • renate
      May 22, 2022 at 12:18

      But a written agreement is not any better, the Americans break any contract as you point out, as the history of treaties with the Native Americans shows and the latest breaking with Iran and the cancellation of nuclear weapons agreements prove. American politicians have no honor, honor comes with a price tag.

    • May 23, 2022 at 11:24

      And they had the gall to claim “The natives were uncivilized”. Most of the world was civilized until the Europeans came.

  10. Eddy
    May 22, 2022 at 03:51

    As we have witnessed many times these last 15-20 years, time and time again the Americans DO NOT HONOR what they agreed to. so I ask, What’s the point of (A) Negotiating or discussing anything with them, (ask Iran how well such actions go ) (B) if any agreement reached from such negotiating, is immediately nullified whenever it suits the Americans, without consulting the opposite parties, what really is the point of it all in the first place ???
    Recently we were advised of telephone conversations between the U.S. Military Honcho and his counterpart in Russia, we were never told the contents of this conversation. Nor were we told as to WHY such a conversation was required in the first place either. After all, the war is between Ukraine and Russia, is it not, that’s what we’re told. But Biden has let his mouth run away from him, telling us it’s about the U.S. trying to wear Russians down so they oust their leader. Basicly the war, according to Biden, has nothing to do with Ukraine, they are simply just a tool to achieve his aims. Yet the whole Western World seems to totally unable to make this conclusion and is quiet happy to support the murderous agenda of the U.S. Goes to show, what low levels western nations have sunk yo these days.

    • renate
      May 22, 2022 at 12:35

      The whole bunch of NATO leaders is made of the same cloth, they are traitors, selling their nations to the DC Mafia. All are without integrity, and basic decency. The Russians are more trustworthy, they never broke their agreements, and never used energy to extort as Americans do.

  11. Me Myself
    May 21, 2022 at 21:12

    Ukraine is being used! That is so more than sad!

    • renate
      May 22, 2022 at 12:47

      They will use Europe the same way. The NATO leaders are throwing their people under the bus unless they panic and change course.
      Biden refuses any negotiation as long as others do the dying. He wants total unconditional surrender. He is evil.

  12. Prometheus
    May 21, 2022 at 19:21

    “Times change…” and what goes around comes around, especially towards untrustworthy and violent nations. Other nations are watching America’s vicious behaviors and remembering.

  13. Nathan Mulcahy
    May 21, 2022 at 17:32

    Who let this idiot off his meds?

  14. Scott Harmon
    May 21, 2022 at 00:48

    There are string-pullers from the British-Germanic elites (old money, old ideas), who run the US government. These automatons are idlers, useless idiots, and rich people without souls and a conscience. They are bored, clearly, and not interested in helping humanity. They play the world like it is a giant game of Risk. We can’t just call this “conspiracy theory” anymore. The numerous wars, with the US acting as the world’s policemen, are too obvious to ignore. We call it neoliberalism, colonialism, empire-building, and the creation of a New World Order. The effect is the same: somebody is getting rich off these wars, and somebody is playing with a global chessboard. I believe it is racism at its core, the idea that the “whites” have to rule the world. I could be wrong. But one thing is for sure: the common person reaps little benefit from these games of the elites.

  15. Sam
    May 20, 2022 at 22:33

    What struck me in the beginning of the interview was when Bush says he’s doing well. I couldn’t help think about the million civilian deaths and 50 million refugees he’s responsible for, as he sits there with his shit-eating grin, in complete comfort and control.

  16. paul
    May 20, 2022 at 22:24

    NATO expansion, JCPOA, 340 treaties with the Redskins, any written agreement with the US isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.
    And as Groucho Marx said, a verbal agreement isn’t worth the paper it isn’t printed on.

  17. Joe Wallace
    May 20, 2022 at 21:24

    C. Parker:

    I wish I could remember who said, “Yeah, but they [the Russians] never got it in writing,” as though that nicety excused, even if it did not justify, NATO’s expansion eastward. To his credit, former ambassador to Russia Jack Matlock emphasized that this misrepresentation undermined the foundation of trust required for diplomacy.

  18. lester
    May 20, 2022 at 19:09

    Congrats to the prankster!

  19. sam
    May 20, 2022 at 19:08

    This has been a week of great truth telling by the former president. First his ‘Freudian slip:’ “The decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq… I mean of Ukraine,” and now this. Who’d of ever thought such a despicable person could the truth so plainly for everyone to hear? I think he deserves our thanks.

  20. May 20, 2022 at 17:55

    David Pakman responds on Twitter.
    “In reality that was never actually agreed to, it was mentioned verbally but not part of any final signed agreements…”
    I always knew that Packman was a faux progressive but now I know he is a neo-liberal in the same league as Joe Baiden and Hillery Clinton. There are many things that diplomats discuss and agree on that are not codified as contracts but taken as being as good as your word. If in the heat of battle, I hold up a white flag to talk truce or conditions of surrender, I am counting on the other side to respect the truce and to comply with whatever terms we may agree to. If you shoot me in the back as I walk away, what are you. This is what the US, under President Bill Clinton did when he decided to expand NATO to the east in spit if the agreement between Gorbachev and Jim Baker. Which was recorded and repeated on several occasions. If Pakman is ok with this, then he is exposing what he is and who he is, a person without principles.

    • Carl Zaisser
      May 21, 2022 at 03:04

      You really should read ALL the summaries of the 60 documents released from the US National Security Archives via the Freedom of Information Act….THOROUGHLY…and then try to stick to your interpretation that all the REPEATED promises of the full range of top US and European leaders was nothing but diplomatic discussions.

      Summary (and documents) of agreements with Gorbachev and EU/US leaders
      hxxps://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2017-12-12/nato-expansion-what-gorbachev-heard-western-leaders-early?fbclid=IwAR1L220ZQKmGTJ5_3i2Wg-Eu8cykABbs8gUgEwWG1u3KnXCpKnOZn2yKMeQ

      Yeltsin and Clinton on NATO expansion
      hxxps://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2018-03-16/nato-expansion-what-yeltsin-heard

      hxxps://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2021-11-24/nato-expansion-budapest-blow-1994

  21. Humwawa
    May 20, 2022 at 17:49

    He never was one of the brightest. By praising his wisdom any prankster could make him say anything.

    Actually Bush Sr. warned about splitting up the Soviet Union because it would lead to ethnic tension like the ones we have seen in Ukraine in the last 8 years.

    They all promised Gorbachev that Nato would not expand one inch Eastward. Germans, French, British and Americans, they all lied.

    And no, times don’t change. Even at the time, they never intended to keep their promise. When you look closely at what they said at the time, it is clear that they didn’t want to give the Russians the impressions that Nato might expand so as not to give the Russians second thoughts about pulling back their troops, but it was just intended as a reassurance to prevent the Russians from getting suspicious. They always intended the cheat.

  22. Anonymot
    May 20, 2022 at 16:58

    It’s just one more Bush shame and a stain on America, but it took Biden to convert the promise a lie and to action. There will be, once again, many deaths, damaged people and destroyed families thanks to the unreliability of America’s empty promises.

    I can’t bring myself to vote again for Biden so what is left? Trump? No thanks. Andrew Yang’s new Forward Party? Maybe. Let’s see who climbs abord. Glenn, please do a piece on this so we have some more background. Does Yang want to be a candidate again or is it an open platform?

    • Tim N
      May 23, 2022 at 07:07

      You don’t have to vote for anybody! Do you not know that? Not voting is a thing, just like voting. Jesus, Yang is a complete fraud who has no shot whatsoever anyway. C’mon now.

  23. Drew Hunkins
    May 20, 2022 at 16:27

    “…After “Zelensky” calls Bush “a very, very wise person,”…”

    Haha! Classic con, appeal to the ego. Bush never read Iceberg Slim’s “Trick Baby.”

  24. May 20, 2022 at 15:06

    Bad week for Bush, good week for the truth, if only it can shine through all the BS and fake propaganda.

  25. nwwoods
    May 20, 2022 at 13:42

    USA is essentially the global mafia.
    “Nice country ya got there..shame if something was to happen to it”

  26. Alan Ross
    May 20, 2022 at 12:34

    Finally we have Bush (unintentionally) being useful instead of harmful.

  27. Eddie S
    May 20, 2022 at 11:58

    To me, already aware of NATO reneging on its non-expansion assurances to Russia, the take-away from this is that it’s yet another demonstration of how feckless & ‘simple’ W is and pretty much always has-been… getting pranked by someone posing on a phone as a foreign head of state!?! I guess we’re lucky he didn’t lose a few trillion dollars to the ‘prince of Nigeria’ when he was in office. He was always a puppet of Cheney’s, a Manchurian candidate…

    • May 20, 2022 at 17:26

      George Bush Jr. got punked by his vice president big time.

  28. Rudy Haugeneder
    May 20, 2022 at 11:45

    Well there you go. American lies, it appears, caused this Ukraine fiasco that, in my opinion, grows worse daily with severe global economic impacts, even without a terminal nuclear war which, unfortunately, we seem to be stampeding towards. Even without a global war, one must still pity to poor worldwide, and in the industrialized world, pity those under age 55.

  29. C. Parker
    May 20, 2022 at 11:30

    George Washington University has in their possession the minutes from the meeting where Baker promised Gorbachev “NATO will not expand one inch eastward.”

    • Joe Wallace
      May 20, 2022 at 19:32

      C. Parker:

      I wish I could remember who said, “Yeah, but they [the Russians] never got it in writing,” as though that nicety excused, even if it did not justify, NATO’s expansion eastward. To his credit, former ambassador to Russia Jack Matlock emphasized that this misrepresentation undermined the foundation of trust required for diplomacy.

  30. May 20, 2022 at 11:10

    Gee, what do you know about that. President Biden lied when he said Putin’s attack on Ukraine was unprovoked and unjustified. Then he lied again when he said Putin rejected every good faith effort of the United States and our allies and partners to address our mutual security concerns through dialogue to avoid needless conflict and human suffering.

    Well, it’s just like ex-President Bush said. Times change, and when they do what was once a promise disappears down the memory hole just as though it never existed.

    • Joe Wallace
      May 20, 2022 at 20:33

      Donald Johnson:

      I’ve not followed closely Russia’s attempts over the last thirty years to negotiate its security concerns with NATO, but what I’ve learned suggests that after the Soviet Union fell apart, and the country was humbled, Mother Russia was invited to negotiate for the same reason the unpopular girl was invited to the party: so she could be more conspicuously ignored. Is it any wonder that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a renowned figure in diplomatic circles, eventually admitted that he had reached his boiling point?

  31. Vera Gottlieb
    May 20, 2022 at 10:10

    Whether a prank or not…it is well known and proven that a promise was made and this promise was broken. Not even in writing would I trust the Yanx.

Comments are closed.