Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned if a Third World War were to take place, it would be a nuclear war. His comments come just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert and after Russian nuclear submarines set sail for tests in waters near Norway. At the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin warned other nations not to intervene, saying, quote, “Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history,” Putin said. Meanwhile, voters in Belarus have approved a referendum opening the door for Russia to station nuclear weapons in Belarus. Meanwhile, Russia is calling on the United States to remove its nuclear weapons from European soil. The U.S. keeps nuclear weapons in five NATO countries: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.
I mean, Putin made clear that — threats already last week, and he ordered the holding of exercises of Russia’s nuclear weapons delivery systems shortly before the invasion again, which he actually personally oversaw. And then, of course, as you mentioned, came the order to increase the readiness level of the nuclear arsenal to high alert. So, these are clear signals of intent, and the risk is very real. But it’s also clear, as many have observed, that Putin is using the threat of nuclear weapons to intimidate others also away from interfering with Russia’s invasion and the humanitarian crisis it’s causing.
So, really, we need to acknowledge that nuclear weapons are clearly not a cause of stability in the world, as we’re often told. They don’t deter conflicts. They in fact have the potential to exacerbate them, in fact. And so, what we’re seeing now is that Russia is
— source democracynow.org | Mar 03, 2022