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Introduction – Sept 25, 2022

Contrary to what President Biden and his National Security Advisor claim in the Reuter report below, Putin did not make nuclear threats against Europe. He was simply responding to threats from senior NATO representatives.

This is a translation of what Putin acrually said:

“Nuclear blackmail has also been used. We are talking not only about the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant – encouraged by the West – which threatens to cause a nuclear catastrophe but also about statements from senior representatives of NATO countries about the possibility and permissibility of using weapons of mass destruction against Russia: nuclear weapons.

“I would like to remind those who make such statements about Russia that our country also possesses various means of destruction, and in some cases, they are more modern than those of NATO countries. When the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we, of course, will use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people.

“This is not a bluff. And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them.”

The fact that U.S. representatives are twisting the meaning and intent of Putin’s speech suggests that the West is now committed to upping the ante with Russia.

And despite what Reuters claims below, Russia HAS NOT suffered any serious “setbacks on the battlefield”. Its forces have simply experienced some realignment in the ebb and flow in the tides of war. Ukrainian forces however, have suffered massive casualties numbering tens of thousands for little gain in their counter-offensive. Ed.

U.S. warns Putin of ‘catastrophic’ consequences over nuclear weapons

Richard Cowan – Reuters Sept 24, 2022

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan

The United States would respond decisively to any Russian use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine and has spelled out to Moscow the “catastrophic consequences” it would face, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday.

Sullivan’s remarks represented the latest American warning following the thinly veiled nuclear threat made by Vladimir Putin last Wednesday in a speech in which the Russian president also announced his country’s first wartime military mobilization since World War Two.

“If Russia crosses this line, there will be catastrophic consequences for Russia. The United States will respond decisively,” Sullivan told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.

Sullivan did not describe the nature of the planned U.S. response in his comments on Sunday but said the United States has privately to Moscow “spelled out in greater detail exactly what that would mean.” Sullivan said that the United States has been in frequent, direct contact with Russia, including during the last few days to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Putin’s actions and threats.

U.S. President Joe Biden in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday accused Putin of making “overt nuclear threats against Europe” in reckless disregard for nuclear nonproliferation responsibilities.

Russia also is staging a referendum in four eastern Ukrainian regions with the goal of annexing territory that Russian forces have taken during their invasion of Ukraine launched in February. Ukraine and its allies have called the referendums a sham designed to justify an escalation of the war and Putin’s mobilization drive after recent battlefield losses.

By incorporating the areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia into Russia, Moscow could portray attacks to retake them as an attack on Russia itself, a warning to Ukraine and its Western allies.

After suffering setbacks on the battlefield, Putin is mobilizing 300,000 troops while also threatening to use “all available means” to protect Russia.

“This is not a bluff,” Putin said in the remarks viewed on the world stage as a threat on the potential use of nuclear weapons.

Sullivan said on Sunday: “Putin remains intent … on wiping out the Ukraine people that he does not believe have a right to exist. So he’s going to keep coming and we have to keep coming with weapons, ammunition, intelligence and all the support we can provide.”

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