RUSSIA THREATENS NUCLEAR RESPONSE IF WEST TARGETS CRIMEA

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Breitbart:

A report surfacing after Russia’s celebration of the one-year annexation of Crimea claims Russian officials warned that any Western attempt to reclaim Crimea “would trigger a Russian response, possibly involving nuclear force.”

 

Putin put on a magnificent show to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Crimea’s annexation on March 18. While the celebration consisted of smiles and joy, something more sinister occurred at the same time behind closed doors in Torgau, Germany.

 

Over the course of two days, the Russians, “who once ran the interior ministry, the military directorate in charge of nuclear weapons, the GRU (Russian military intelligence) and the FSB (the main successor agency to the KBG)” met with Americans who had backgrounds in military, CIA, and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

 

Notes from the meeting show Russian officials told the Americans if anyone in the West attempted to retrieve Crimea, the move “would trigger a Russian response, possibly involving nuclear force.” It is not the first time Russia referred to their nuclear weapons in the past year. Putin told school children “Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers” and “it’s best not to mess with us.”

 

Putin explained in the documentary Homeward Bound the exact plan he concocted to capture Crimea from Ukraine. He claimed to have hatched the plan before the Ukrainian parliament ousted Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovych. Pro-Western Ukrainians established a protest movement known as Euromaidan in Kiev in November 2013 after Yanukovych chose closer ties to Russia instead of ones with Europe. After three months, parliament kicked out Yanukovych on February 22, 2014. Crimea pushed out their Kiev-appointed mayor and appointed a pro-Russia mayor. On February 26, 150 gunmen stormed government buildings and raised the Russian flag. Then, Crimea’s parliament dissolved their government and elected a Russian speaker.

 

At the time, the Kremlin insisted it was only locals who had participated in the takeover. However, in the documentary, Moscow finally admitted the Russian government was behind the seizure. In 2010, Yanukovych extended an agreement with Russia to host Moscow’s Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.

 

The threat is not limited to Crimea. Putin once said the fall of the USSR was the worst geopolitical disaster of the 20th century. After he annexed Crimea, Russian diplomats whispered veiled threats to Latvia and Estonia, both former Soviet states. The Russian ambassador to Latvia told a Russian radio station that Moscow is ready to provide passports to ethnic Russians in the country. A Russian representative told the UN Human Rights Council that Moscow is concerned over treatment of ethnic Russians in Estonia. Russia reopened criminal cases against Lithuanians who refused to serve in the Soviet Army in 1990-1991. Putin declared he wants to protect ethnic Russians and Russian speakers across the world. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia—known as the Baltic States—are concerned Putin will target them next. In March, Lithuania reintroduced conscription due to fears about Russia.

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Related: Russian ships in old Arctic NATO base set alarms bells ringing

 

[clearvision]

Just wonderful.