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.
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