Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, responding to a question about the potential delivery of long-range U.S. missiles to Ukraine, warned the United States on Wednesday not to play with Russia’s “red lines.” Lavrov stated that the U.S.
is losing sight of the mutual deterrence that formed the basis of the security balance between Moscow and Washington since the Cold War, and that this is dangerous. He commented on a Reuters report that the U.S. is close to an agreement to supply Ukraine with JASSM long-range cruise missiles, which could reach deep into Russia—a request made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I wouldn’t be surprised by anything—the Americans have already crossed the threshold they set for themselves. They’re being encouraged, and Zelensky, of course, sees this and uses it,” Lavrov said. “But they should understand—they are playing with our red lines here.
They should not be playing with our red lines.” President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned the West since launching what he called his “special military operation” in Ukraine in 2022 not to try to thwart Russia, which possesses the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.
However, Washington and its allies have increased military support for Ukraine, providing tanks, advanced missiles, and F-16 fighter jets. This has led some Western politicians to suggest that Putin’s nuclear rhetoric is a bluff, and that the U.S.
and NATO should do everything possible to help Ukraine win the war. Zelensky has said that Ukraine’s incursion into Russia, which began on August 6, mocks Putin’s red lines. Lavrov said Washington knows where these boundaries lie, but is mistaken if it believes that the consequences of any escalation in the Ukraine war will primarily affect Europe.
“They have a genetic belief that no one will touch them,” Lavrov said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov© CRUX / Youtube channel
This belief, he added, has undermined all the principles that have been the foundation of strategic stability with Washington since Soviet times.
“This sense of mutual deterrence—they are beginning to lose it for some reason. This is dangerous,” he said.
Warnings
Lavrov referred to statements by White House National Security Advisor John Kirby, who in June said that President Joe Biden had repeatedly stated that Washington does not seek a “Third World War.” Kirby said that a significant escalation of the war in Ukraine could have “catastrophic consequences, potentially across the European continent,” and would not be in the U.S.’
s interests. This was the second time in just over a week that Lavrov warned the U.S. that a potential third world war would not be confined to Europe. The Kremlin announced on Wednesday that Russia is changing its nuclear doctrine as Washington and its allies threaten Russia with escalating the war in Ukraine and behaving recklessly regarding what it called Moscow’s legitimate security interests.
It did not specify how the policy document outlining the circumstances under which Russia might use nuclear weapons would be updated or when the changes would take effect.
Russia Changes Its Nuclear Doctrine
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia is adjusting its nuclear doctrine because the United States and its Western allies are threatening Russia with the escalation of the war in Ukraine and reckless behavior toward Moscow’s legitimate security interests.
Russia, the world’s largest nuclear power, is changing its nuclear doctrine—which outlines the circumstances under which Moscow would use such weapons—due to increasing Western support for Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in Moscow’s most detailed explanation to date, directly linked this move to the “threats” posed by the West, blaming the U.S. for destroying the post-Cold War security architecture in Europe, reports Reuters.
The West, Peskov said, has rejected dialogue with Russia and adopted an aggressive stance against its security interests while fueling a “hot war in Ukraine.” “It’s the United States that is the main driver of tensions,” Peskov said.
Peskov indicated that the revision of the nuclear doctrine is in its early stages, stating that current tensions will be carefully analyzed and will serve as the basis for the proposed changes. Russia’s currently published nuclear doctrine, set forth in a 2020 decree by President Vladimir Putin, states that Russia may use nuclear weapons in the event of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatens the state’s existence.
Russia and the United States are by far the world’s largest nuclear powers, holding about 88 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists. Both are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, while China is rapidly expanding its own.
The war in Ukraine has caused the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, with both sides saying they cannot afford to lose the conflict.
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Publish date : 2024-09-04 19:55:00
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