WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Poroshenko announced he had appointed former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen as his non-staff advisor, according to a decree posted on the presidential website.
"It is hard to see how this helps Ukraine at this point," Macgregor, a leading US combat tactician and military historian said on Friday.
However, Macgregor said that the ploy of trying to associate Ukraine more closely with NATO by bringing in the Alliance’s former head as a personal adviser would add nothing tangible to the security of Ukraine.
Poroshenko recently had to fire his first Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and is increasingly unpopular due to his failed economic and security policies as well as a general deterioration in law and order.
Macgregor argued that instead of trying to woo past NATO leaders and associate himself more closely with the West, Poroshenko would have done better to model his security policy on Austria and Finland during the Cold War, when both nations remained neutral between NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
Poroshenko "would have been smarter to hire a former Finnish Defense Minister" as his personal adviser, Macgregor remarked.
"The Austrian State Treaty is a good model for Ukrainian independence from Moscow; hence, the value of listening to the Finnish advisor, not the former NATO official."
Macgregor also pointed out that Russia did not want to fight any full-scale war in Ukraine.
"There is a reluctance of many Russians to commit their sons to a war against fellow Slavs."
However, Macgregor cautioned that Moscow would become increasingly concerned about the Kiev regime’s efforts to identify fully with NATO.
"Bringing NATO into the mix is counterproductive."
Doug Macgregor holds a doctoral degree in international relations from the US Military Academy at West Point. He commanded in the Battle of 73 Easting, a decisive tank fight during the 1991 Gulf War.
