Update(4:55ET): On the eve of the emergency NATO summit to take place in Brussels, for which Joe Biden has traveled to Europe, ex-president of Russia and close Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev has warned of the potential for a coming 'nuclear dystopia' - as The Hill reports - based on NATO pushing Moscow into a corner with crippling sanctions and attempts at total global isolation.
He charged the West in the Wednesday comments of seeking "the end of our motherland" - warning that the end-game could be nuclear disaster if relations continue to unravel at this rate. The Hill writes:
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council who also previously served as the country's president and prime minister, wrote in a post on Russian social networking site VK.com that Russia has been "the target of the same mediocre and primitive game" since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"This means that Russia must be humiliated, limited, shaken, divided and destroyed," Medvedev wrote.
Crucially, he said that in a scenario where the Americans succeed, "here is the result: the largest nuclear power with an unstable political regime, weak leadership, a collapsed economy and the maximum number of nuclear warheads aimed at targets in the US and Europe."
Meanwhile the temperature on Russian media echoes Medvedev's ratcheting rhetoric...
As described below, NATO also appears to be heightening its military readiness posture in Eastern European allied countries, sending more troops near Ukraine, while at the same time vowing not to directly enter the conflict, according to the latest words of Jens Stoltenberg.
Some of the latest afternoon headlines are as follows:
- MARIUPOL MAYOR REPORTEDLY LEAVES CITY
- RUSSIA DIGGING IN, TAKING DEFENSIVE POSITIONS: U.S. OFFICIAL
- RENAULT SUSPENDS INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES IN RUSSIA
- RUSSIA'S FOREIGN MINISTRY TOLD THE UNITED STATES THAT ANY HOSTILE ACTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA WILL PROVOKE A DECISIVE RESPONSE - INTERFAX
- U.S. NEEDS TO CONSULT ALLIES ON WHETHER RUSSIA SHOULD BE ALLOWED AT G-20 FINANCE MINISTER MEETING -SULLIVAN
Update(11:05ET): Just a day ahead of the Thursday emergency meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels, which Joe Biden will attend in person, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has previewed in a new speech that countries will commit to "major increases" in troops along Europe's 'eastern flank'.
He also took the opportunity to warn Russia to stop its 'nuclear saber rattling' - a day after the Pentagon called recent Kremlin remarks related to a heightened nuclear posture that was raised last month "dangerous". Stoltenberg stated, "Russia should stop this dangerous irresponsible nuclear rhetoric." He said, "But let there be no doubt about our readiness to protect and defend allies against any threat anytime."
"Russia must understand that it can never win a nuclear war," Stoltenberg added. And despite weapons shipments from the West continuing to reportedly enter Ukraine, he added an important caveat: "NATO is not part of the conflict … it provides support to Ukraine but isn’t part of the conflict."
"NATO will not send the troops into Ukraine… It is extremely important to provide support to Ukraine and we are stepping up. But at the same time it is also extremely important to prevent this conflict becoming a full-fledged war between NATO and Russia," he stressed.
As for the locations expected to host more troops, the countries of Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia were identified. NBC details of his words:
"I expect leaders will agree to strengthen NATO’s posture in all domains, with major increases in the eastern part of the alliance on land, in the air and at sea," Stoltenberg said during a press conference ahead of the NATO leaders summit in Brussels.
Since the Kremlin’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, NATO has readied 140,000 troops in the region and mobilized a colossal war chest of advanced military equipment in preparation. Of the approximately 140,000 troops, the United States has provided the lion’s share of 100,000.
After weeks of the West accusing Russia of possibly preparing the use chemical weapons or other WMD - but without evidence it should be noted - Stoltenberg also said NATO is prepared to defend Ukraine in the event of a chemical or nuclear attack, which appeared more as a "warning" intended to deter usage of such banned weapons.
1 comment:
We have Kooks running around with access to weaponry that no one wanted any of them near in the first place, in my opinion.
We need to have some good guys deal with the kooks and stop insanity on Global scale, the world will be a better place IMO; If not, "Poof" the Magic Dragon, right?
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