Russia Renews Warning of Nuclear War Risks

Date: 30 April 2022 - 21:39

News ID: ۱۰۲۲۰۴

MOSCOW (Dispatches) --
Russia believes the risks of nuclear war should be kept to a minimum and that any armed conflict between nuclear powers should be prevented, the TASS news agency quoted a foreign ministry official as saying on Saturday.
Vladimir Yermakov, the foreign ministry’s head of nuclear non-proliferation, said all nuclear powers must stick to the logic laid out in official documents aimed at preventing nuclear war.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday the West should not underestimate the elevated risks of nuclear conflict over Ukraine, although the United States subsequently said it did not believe there was a threat of Russia using nuclear weapons despite an escalation in Moscow’s rhetoric.
Yermakov on Saturday was quoted as saying that leading nuclear powers must adhere to the logic enshrined in documents they have jointly created.
He was referring to a joint statement published in January by Russia, China, Britain, the United States and France, in which the five countries - which are the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - agreed that the further spread of nuclear arms and a nuclear war should be avoided.
“The risks of nuclear war, which should never be unleashed, must be kept to a minimum, in particular through preventing any armed conflict between nuclear powers,” TASS quoted Yermakov as saying on Saturday. “Russia clearly follows this understanding.”
A senior U.S. defense official said the United States does not believe that there is a threat of Russia using nuclear weapons.
“We continue to monitor their nuclear capabilities every day the best we can and we do not assess that there is a threat of the use of nuclear weapons and no threat to NATO territory,” the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told reporters.

Russia said earlier this month that it plans to deploy its newly tested Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of mounting nuclear strikes against the United States, by autumn.

Western concern at the risk of nuclear war increased after President Vladimir Putin launched warned that any attempt to get in Russia’s way “will lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this week he did not expect any further Russian military failures in Ukraine to push Putin into using tactical nuclear weapons there, saying the Russian leader had room to maneuver and end the conflict.

Earlier this month CIA Director William Burns said the threat of Russia potentially using tactical or low-yield nuclear weapons in Ukraine could not be taken lightly, but that the CIA has not seen a lot of practical evidence reinforcing that concern.

Lavrov said in a new interview that Russia it does not consider itself at war with NATO, warning that such a development could increase the risks of a nuclear war.

Speaking to Saudi Arabia’s Al Arabia channel, he accused the West of sabotaging Russia’s peace talks with Ukraine. He said horny negotiations in Istanbul last month had been progressing until Ukrainian diplomats backtracked at the behest of the West.

“We are stuck because of their desire to play games all the time. Because of the instructions they get Washington, from London, from some other capitals, not to accelerate the negotiations,” he said.

Lavrov said Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine was a “response to what NATO was doing in Ukraine to prepare this country for a very aggressive posture against the Russian Federation”.

“They were given offensive arms, including the arms which can reach the Russian territory, military bases were being built including on the Sea of Azov and many dozens of military exercises, including many of them on Ukrainian territory were conducted under NATO auspices and most of these exercises were designed against the interested of the Russian Federation, so the purpose of this operation is to make sure that those plans do not materialize.”

Lavrov said Russia does not consider itself to be at war with NATO, but NATO does.

“Unfortunately, NATO, it seems, considers itself to be at war with Russia. NATO and European Union leaders, many of them, in England, in the United States, Poland, France, Germany and of course European Union chief diplomat Josep Borrell, they bluntly, publicly and consistently say, ‘Putin must fail, Russia must be defeated.’ When you use this terminology, I believe you think that you are at war with the person who you want to be defeated,” he said.

He said Russia knows the routes being used to supply Ukraine with arms, stating that “as soon as these weapons are reaching Ukrainian territory, they are fair game for our special operation”.

Lavrov touched on the reasons which prompted it to launch its “military operation” inside Ukraine.

“NATO, despite its promises and promises of its leaders, was moving closer and closer to the Russian border and they were telling us, ‘don’t be afraid, we are a defensive alliance and we will pose no threat to your security.’”

Lavrov said NATO was indeed a defensive alliance back when there was a Berlin Wall and a “geopolitical wall between NATO and the Warsaw Treaty” drafted in 1949 after the Second World War.

“When the Warsaw Treaty disappeared, when the Soviet Union ceased to exist, NATO decided that the line of defense should be moved to the east and they did move this line of defense five times,” he said.

On Friday, the Pentagon said Washington has started training Ukrainian armed forces in Germany and other locations in Europe.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the plans “build on the initial artillery training that Ukraine’s forces already have received elsewhere and also includes training on radar systems and armored vehicles that have been recently announced as part of security assistance packages”.

The Pentagon also said it will send the first batch of highly-secret Phoenix Ghost drones to Ukraine as it steps up weapons.

More than a dozen flights would leave the continental US in the next 24 hours, carrying weapons destined for Ukrainian armed forces, including more howitzers and the first of the new Phoenix Ghost drones, it added.

A senior defense official said the new, secret drones would join 100 Switchblades - kamikaze drones which carry a warhead - that have already been delivered.

Russia to Move Away From U.S. Dollar

Separately, Lavrov said Russia is seeking to move away from the US dollar and rely less on imports while strengthening its independence in key technologies in response to sanctions over the war with Ukraine.

“We will continue to push and strengthen special economic programs to ensure the stability of the Russian economy,” Lavrov said in comments to China’s official Xinhua news agency.

Russia’s central bank said earlier this month it found no clear alternatives to the world’s major reserve currencies after sanctions left it in possession of only yuan and gold.