Putin Threatens Nuclear War – Nothing To See Here, Move Along

The United States is about to approve the use by Ukraine of long-range precision strike missiles on Russia. The Russians are threatening to retaliate by using nuclear weapons. We are dangerously close to watching the war in Ukraine spiral out of control.

No one in the Biden-Harris administration seems to care. Once upon a time, we lived in a world where the threat of Armageddon was a big deal. Not anymore. Now we step on the gas and accelerate toward the cliff.

“The key is that only NATO servicemen can enter flight assignments into these missile systems. Ukrainian servicemen cannot do this. And so this is not about allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not. It’s about deciding whether NATO countries are directly involved in the military conflict or not. If this decision is made it will mean nothing other than the direct participation of NATO countries, the United States, European countries, in the war in Ukraine. This is their direct participation and this already significantly changes the very essence and the very nature of the conflict… This would mean that NATO countries, the United States are at war with Russia.”

Vladimir Putin

"Secretary Blinken, President Biden — STOP IT! Stop this reckless escalation. I say this not as a political partisan, but simply as a citizen of the world."

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Sergei Markov is a senior advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a recent interview, he noted that if NATO allowed Ukraine to target Russia with long range missiles Russia would be at war with the West and would be forced to use tactical nuclear weapons. Markov also suggested pointedly that Russia would strike the United Kingdom directly.

Only months ago Putin ordered a tactical nuclear drill near its border with Ukraine. It was the first of its kind. Russia’s conventional forces may have been degraded by the fighting in Ukraine. Its nuclear arsenal remains intact and fully operational.

It is also well known that the Russians retain very large numbers of tactical nuclear weapons and also have a very expansive doctrine regarding their use. Reports have indicated that Russia is prepared to hit a large number of targets in Western Europe in a conflict with NATO. They have also shown that Russia has considered a “demonstration strike” in a remote area in Europe to establish conclusively that it is prepared to fight a nuclear war if NATO does not back off.

Vladimir Putin is a thug. His invasion of Ukraine was unjustified. He got what he deserved. His blitzkrieg turned into trench warfare, and the Russians have lost so many tanks they have dragged 40-year-old T-62s out of mothballs and sent them to the front.

None of that suggests remotely that it is in the interest of the United States and NATO to prolong this conflict and risk its escalation into a world war and a nuclear exchange. As Donald Trump has said repeatedly, the goal of the United States should be to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table and reach a settlement. What will benefit the American people will be peace in Europe.

In 2029 a study by Princeton’s Science and Global Security Program found that 34.1 million people could die, and another 57.4 million could be injured, within the first few hours of the start of a nuclear war between Russia and the United States. That study posited a conflict triggered by the detonation of a single low-yield nuclear weapon. The long term impact of such an exchange would be much, much worse.

"We have said a hundred times that there can be no nuclear war between nuclear states, especially between the United States and Russia. And there will be no winners. But there is some kind of illusion here that if there is a conflict, it will not spread to the territory of the United States of America. I am constantly trying to convey one thesis to them - the Americans will not be able to sit it out behind the waters of the ocean, this war will affect everyone. Therefore, we constantly say: do not play with this rhetoric."

Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov, September 14, 2024

https://x.com/vicktop55/status/1834830589205025029

Speaking Saturday former Russian President Medvedev said that if the Ukrainians used long-range missiles supplied by the West to target Russia the Russians would turn Kiev into a giant “melted spot”. He added that Russia had been “showing patience,” before adding: “However, the pompous Anglo-Saxon imbeciles do not want to admit one thing: any patience comes to an end.”

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-820056

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/39023

No one in this administration is talking about peace. Nor do any of them have a proposal of any kind to end this madness. They continue to pour jet fuel on the fire and babble nonsensically about “winning”.

We are standing on the brink of World War III. Putin is threatening nuclear war. No one in this administration seems to care. No one has a plan.