The Doomsday Clock Is Ticking:
We’re Heading for a Nuclear War
Steven Starr
(February 21, 2023) — Now even the illusion of arms control is dead as Russia suspends START after the US violates the treaty by preventing Russian inspectors from visiting US nuclear facilities.
The US supplies Ukraine with weapons and targeting information as the US Undersecretary of State, Victoria Nuland, says Russian military installations in Crimea are “legitimate targets”. This comes a few days after she gloats over the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines.
Russian nuclear missiles are put on Combat Alert status and the US Ambassador is summoned to the Kremlin.
The clock is fast ticking down to World War 3.
What are you going to do about it?
Steven Starr is a senior scientist at the Physicians for Social Responsibility and an associate of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
Putin Suspends New START Nuclear Treaty,
Puts Missiles On Combat Readiness
(February 21, 2023) — In a much anticipated speech on Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin said he is suspending Russia’s participation in the New START nuclear treaty with the United States.
“President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday suspended Russian participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the United States, warning Washington that Russia had put new ground-based strategic nuclear weapons on combat duty,” Reuters reports of the new declaration.
It comes over a year after Moscow signed onto a five-year extension and after, in August. the US accused Russia of violating the treaty in disallowing US on-site inspections under its stipulations. In response, Washington halted Russian inspectors’ ability to do the same on American soil.
Russia had at the time complained that it was actually the US side which “deprive the Russian Federation of the right to conduct inspections on American territory.”
“No one should be under the illusion that global strategic parity can be violated,” Putin said of New START in the Tuesday remarks delivered in Moscow.
In March 2021 the two sides renewed New START for a period of five years, and it will expire in February 2026 if it’s not continued — an increasing possibility given US-Russia relations have deteriorated so fast over the Ukraine war they are near complete breaking point. But this new Putin declaration appears to be the final death knell after the treaty’s fate was already extremely uncertain.
The treaty is intended to limit and reduce nuclear arms on either side, setting a limit of no more than 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 missiles. START I began in 1991, with New START signed under the Obama and Medvedev administrations in 2010 as a successor agreement.
Putin’s speech, which most commentators saw little that was new, came just after President Biden showed up in Kiev for a surprise visit…
Russia Summons Ambassador Due To
Pentagon Involvement In Ukrainian Conflict
(February 21, 2023) — The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy to make a demarche due to the growing involvement of the United States in the fighting on the side of the Kiev regime.
The diplomatic measure was taken almost immediately after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his annual address to the Russian Federal Assembly, claiming among other things that Russia suspended implementation of START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty).
The protest note transmitted to the Ambassador emphasizes that the pumping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with weapons, as well as the target designation for striking Russian military and civilian infrastructure facilities clearly prove the inconsistency and falsity of the claims of the American side that the United States is not a party to the conflict. I
t is also indicated that the weapons supplied to Kiev, as well as the service personnel, including American citizens, represent a legitimate goal, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned.
On a long enough timeline,
the survival rate for everyone
drops to zero
In this regard, the US Ambassador was informed about the “counterproductivity of the current aggressive course of the United States to deepen confrontation with Russia in all directions”. It was particularly noted that in order to de-escalate the situation, Washington should take steps involving the withdrawal of US-NATO military and military equipment from Ukraine, as well as the cessation of hostile anti-Russian activity.
The Russian side also stressed that the United States should provide explanations about the explosions on the Nord Stream — 1 and Nord Stream–2 gas pipelines and not interfere with an objective investigation to identify the perpetrators.
In addition, a number of bilateral issues were discussed during the meeting. The Russian media supposed that the diplomats discussed the START issue.
Speaking to the Federal Assembly, Putin blamed the West and, in particular, the United States, for fomenting the conflict in Ukraine and for its victims. LINK
“The West uses Ukraine both as a battering-ram against Russia and as a testing ground,” the president said.
In his turn, on February 21, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Kiev was discussing the supply with the United States of long-range weapons and other weapons that had not previously been sent for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly called that the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine was a “red line”. In his speech on February 21, Putin mentioned the issue, warning that “the supply of long-range weapons, the possibility of which was earlier also claimed by the United States and Great Britain, will lead to the fact that the security zone on the territory of the special operation will be pushed further and further.”
Thus, military supplies and foreign military personnel involved in their maintenance are legitimate targets for Russian forces, including outside the Ukrainian territory.
Victoria Nuland Clarifies That US Supports Ukrainian Attacks On Crimea
Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com & Zero Hedge
(February 21, 2023) — Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, said last week that the US is “supporting” Ukrainian attacks on Crimea and called Russian military installations on the peninsula “legitimate targets.”
Nuland made the comments when asked about a report from The New York Times that was published in January and said the Biden administration was “warming” to the idea of helping Ukraine attack Russia despite the risk of escalation.
“Russia has turned Crimea into a massive military installation … those are legitimate targets, Ukraine is hitting them, and we are supporting that,” Nuland told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington DC-based think tank.
Nuland also expressed support for the “demilitarization” of Crimea. “No matter what the Ukrainians decide about Crimea in terms of where they choose to fight, etcetera, Ukraine is not going to be safe unless Crimea is at a minimum — at a minimum — demilitarized,” she said.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed Nuland’s comments, saying she was inciting an escalation of the war. “Now the American warmongers have gone even further: they are inciting the Kiev regime to further escalate, to bring the war to the territory of our country. Just like that, with direct strikes,” Zakharova said.
Nuland’s comments came a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged that a Ukrainian attempt at retaking Crimea would be a “red line” for Russian President Vladimir Putin and would risk a major response from Moscow. US support for such operations would increase the risk of provoking Moscow and heighten the chances of a direct clash between NATO and Russia.
Putin has shown that he will significantly escalate the war over attacks on Crimea. Russia did not start large-scale missile strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure until after the truck bombing of the Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea to the Russian mainland.
While Ukraine hasn’t been in a position where it can launch an offensive against Crimea, the Biden administration has made clear throughout the conflict that it wouldn’t discourage Kyiv from attacking the peninsula.
Back in the summer of 2022, when the US first provided the HIMARS rocket systems to Ukraine, the administration sought assurances that the weapons wouldn’t be used to target Russian territory. When asked by Antiwar.com if that restriction applied to Crimea, a State Department spokesperson replied, “Crimea is Ukraine.”
Russia has controlled Crimea since 2014, but neither the US nor Kyiv recognize the peninsula as Russian territory. The people of Crimea voted to join Russia following a US-backed coup in Kyiv, which Nuland played an instrumental role in, and polling since 2014 has shown that they are still happy with the change.
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