![]() In fact, Putin issued his first significant threat toward the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): He told his American rivals that they were to remove their offensive long-range weapons systems in Ukraine, otherwise Russian forces would begin directly targeting those systems. He not only signaled that his commitment to the conflict was as strong as ever, but that he was escalating it, in response to what he viewed as an American escalation. The speech certainly was Castro-esque in its loquaciousness and was tinged with quasi-religious accusations against the West that would make most Iranian mullahs blush, but there was substance in Putin’s words. Unsurprisingly, most Western media outlets simply refused to cover the speech. The other speech came from Putin, who spoke for a whopping two hours on Tuesday evening, in which he reiterated his commitment to total victory over Ukraine and how the United States was ruled by “satanists” and “pedophiles.” Shortly after his speech, the Pentagon hinted that it might stop slow-walking its promised (but as yet to be delivered) M1A2 Abrams main battle tank to the waiting arms of the desperate Ukrainian defenders and simply hand over the MBTs that are already in America’s warehouses (something that the Pentagon had resisted doing when the Biden administration made its initial announcement that it would, in fact, be sending the vaunted MBTs). Neither speech was particularly reassuring. Biden promised his Ukrainian wards an additional US$500 million in US taxpayer support for the besieged Ukrainians. The world was treated (more like tormented) by dueling presidential speeches, one from the sclerotic US President Joe Biden, who journeyed to Kiev to reassert his undying support for Ukraine, the other by the surly Russian President Vladimir Putin. "The consequences would be disastrous for all mankind.This past week will be remembered by most historians – if anyone is lucky enough to live through this Age of Self-Destruction – as the point of no return for the Russo-Ukrainian war. ![]() "We must remember: a nuclear conflict will affect absolutely the whole world - not only Russia and the collective West, but every country on this planet," Venediktov said. Venediktov said Zelenskiy's call for preventive strikes against Russia was dangerous, cautioning that nuclear war would have catastrophic consequences for the world. Russia and the United States are by far the biggest nuclear powers: they control about 90% of the world's nuclear warheads. NATO is due to hold an annual nuclear preparedness exercise dubbed "Steadfast Noon" next week. ![]() President Joe Biden has said the world faces the biggest risk of nuclear Armageddon since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. 21 warned the West he was not bluffing when he said he would be ready to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia against what he said was "nuclear blackmail" from major Western powers. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly railed against the United States for driving NATO's eastward expansion, especially its courting of ex-Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Georgia which Russia regards as part of its own sphere of influence. "The suicidal nature of such a step is understood by NATO members themselves," he said. Venediktov, who is deputy to Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, a powerful Putin ally, said he felt Ukraine's application was propaganda as the West understood the consequences of Ukrainian membership of NATO. "Kyiv is well aware that such a step would mean a guaranteed escalation to World War Three," TASS quoted Alexander Venediktov, the deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, as saying. 30, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced a surprise bid for fast-track membership of NATO.įull NATO membership for Ukraine is far off because all the alliance's 30 members would have to give their consent. Just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin formally proclaimed the annexation of up to 18% of Ukraine on Sept. LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - If Ukraine is admitted into the U.S.-led NATO military alliance, then the conflict in Ukraine would be guaranteed to escalate into World War Three, a Russian Security Council official was quoted as saying on Thursday.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |