Russian Nuclear Threats Persist

Russian Army Gen. Yuri Yakubov has launched a campaign to officially adjust Russia’s military doctrine to allow for a pre-emptive nuclear attack against the USA and NATO, reported Interfax, according to the website Newsmax.com.

Yakubov said the doctrine, last revised in 2010, should be updated to classify the USA and other NATO members as the main enemy of Russia.

His efforts should not be misinterpreted as meaning that Russian military doctrine is docile. The latest version does champion the Russian manifest destiny of spreading Russia’s influence to the so-called near abroad—the former captive nations—as well as to restore the imperial glory of Mother Russia.

Furthermore, taken in the context of recent nuclear threats against USA and Ukraine as well as reports of Putin’s desire to invade other countries, a belligerent, nuclear armed Russia that is not afraid to use its weapons of mass destruction should cause civilized world leaders to consider how to save mankind from Russian insanity.

Last week Putin told children at a Kremlin-sponsored youth camp, “I want to remind you that Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers.”

Yakubov, who is from the defense ministry’s inspector general’s office, also said in prepared remarks that appeared in Moscow Times, it is time “to hash out the conditions under which Russia could carry out a pre-emptive strike with the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces."

Russia warned Saturday that this time it would react if the European Union imposed fresh economic sanctions against it for invading Ukraine.

“As for the new list of sanctions from the European Union, if they are passed, there will undoubtedly be a reaction from our side,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. Today the Kremlin said it would suspend air flights to countries that institute sanctions.

Moscow said that by announcing new sanctions that are expected to be formally approved on Monday, the EUs leadership “is practically sending a signal of direct support to the ‘party of war’ in Kyiv, which is not happy with the results of the Minsk meeting,” Russia’s foreign ministry said. “Instead of feverishly searching for ways to hurt the economies of its own countries and Russia, the European Union would do better to work on supporting the economic revival of the Donbass region” of eastern Ukraine, it added.

Moscow continues to excel at twisting agreements into sounding as if it is beyond reproach. Western leaders should be very leery of ever allowing Russia to return to the table of global diplomacy because sooner or later Moscow will resume its dyed-in-the-wool belligerent behavior.