A member of Putin’s security council and the leader of the Duma parliament made threats about the use of nuclear weapons on Sunday, writes Reuters. – The delivery of offensive weapons to the regime in Kyiv will lead to a global catastrophe, says Vyacheslav Volodin. – If Washington and NATO countries deliver weapons in an attempt to take our lands, as they have threatened, it will lead to retaliation with more powerful weapons, he continues. The politician who belongs to the circle around Putin threatens to use nuclear weapons if the Ukrainians take back Russian territories. Four counties in eastern Ukraine in addition to the Crimean peninsula have been declared part of Russia by the Putin regime. – The argument that nuclear powers have never before used weapons of mass destruction in a war between two neighboring countries is untenable, says Volodin. Hawks around Putin who both threaten nuclear war; Dmitry Medvedev and Vyacheslav Volodin. Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP The powerful politician believes the situation cannot be compared to previous use of nuclear weapons. – Nuclear powers have not previously been exposed to the same threats to their citizens and land, says Volodin. The threats come three days after former President Dimitrij Medvedev said something similar. – No nuclear power has lost a conflict that is decisive for their fate, said Medvedev, who is currently the leader of the Security Council, to year-resident Putin. “Fighting a nuclear power in a conventional war can trigger a nuclear war,” the former president continued. Those threats were seen as a warning to Ukraine not to consider taking back the Crimean peninsula. – Trying to intimidate the West – The Russians fear that the arms aid will enable Ukraine to take control of even more of the Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia. This is what senior researcher Jakub Godzimirski at the Norwegian Foreign Policy Institute, Nupi, told news on Sunday. Senior researcher Jakub Godzimirski at the Norwegian Foreign Policy Institute, Nupi. Photo: Christopher Olssøn He refers to the Crimean peninsula which has been occupied since 2014, the counties of Luhansk and Donetsk which have been partially under Russian control since 2014 and not least Kherson and Zaporizhia which Russia has occupied since February 2022. – Ukraine and the West believe that we are talking about areas that are under illegal Russian occupation. In order to achieve peace, Russia must either withdraw from these areas voluntarily or be forced to withdraw from these areas as a result of a military defeat. It is the last option Volodin and Putin fear and therefore they want to scare the West from transferring more advanced weapons systems to Ukraine by warning of a possible escalation. – But they have done that many times before without it happening, so many people doubt it and regard such warnings as empty, says the Russia expert at Nupi. Tug of war over Leopard 2 tanks The threats from Moscow come at the same time as there is a fierce tug of war in Western countries over whether Ukraine should get the weapon it wants more than anything else, the German Leopard 2 tanks. This is the tank that Ukraine wants and that Russia fears , German Leopard 2. The picture is from an exercise in Poland in May, 2022. Photo: WOJTEK RADWANSKI / AFP On Saturday, Ukrainian President Zelensky reiterated that he is working to persuade Germany to send the requested tanks that he believes they need to take back areas occupied by Russian forces. On Friday, Germany said a preliminary no to the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks that Ukraine wants to be able to take back areas occupied by Russian forces. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Friday said no to sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Photo: ANDRE PAIN / AFP The decision on Friday has been met with massive criticism from several quarters. – Can be an expression of desperation – Are the threats just rhetoric? – Such a statement can be interpreted in many different ways – as scaremongering, as a real warning, or as an expression of desperation from a political leader who sees that the plan that was launched in February could fail due to the help Ukraine receives from the West. He believes Volodin’s statements are primarily aimed at a Western audience and Western decision-makers. – It is happening in a situation where one can fear on the Russian side that more Western military aid to Ukraine could have consequences for Russia’s ability to win this war. One of the leading representatives of Putin’s regime can definitely perceive this as a real existential threat. – Putin willing to risk a lot – Should we be alarmed by this type of threat? – Throughout these 11 months, Russia has made many threats about the use of nuclear weapons as a response to this aid. Most experts believe that the threshold for using that type of weapon is very high, for both political and military reasons, says Godzimirski from Nupi. He recalls that China, Russia’s most important supporter, has previously issued a clear warning against the use of nuclear weapons. Russia has also received many clear warnings from the US about the consequences of such a decision. – Most people believe that it will be deeply felt for Putin to press this button that we do not want him to press because he may have learned that it is very difficult to predict the outcome of such dramatic decisions, says senior researcher Jakub Godzimirski at the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Policy, Nupi, to news Sunday. This is the Leopard 2 tank that Ukraine wants to be able to take back areas occupied by Russian forces. The picture is from an exhibition in Hannover in September 2011. Photo: Michael Sohn / AP
ttn-69
Putin adviser threatens global catastrophe – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
