Russia threatens direct strikes on British military targets

[Kokavkrystallos]

Russia says it will hit UK targets if British weapons strike Russian territory​

Russia’s Foreign Ministry repeated a warning to the U.K. Thursday suggesting that Moscow could strike U.K. targets if British weapons are used by Ukraine to attack Russian territory.
The U.K.’s Foreign Minister David Cameron caused uproar in Moscow at the start of May when he said Ukraine was free to use British long-range missiles on targets inside Russia. Ukraine has used British Storm Shadow missiles to successfully target Russian military sites in Crimea.
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova repeated Thursday that Moscow is prepared to retaliate, telling reporters that “we may strike any British military objects and weaponry in Ukraine and beyond.”

“As we know, during his visit to Kyiv, [David] Cameron said in an interview with Reuters that, and I quote: ‘Ukraine has every right to strike Russian territory using the British weapons’. Was it an unsuccessful attempt at self-PR? Or did he backtrack on the official London stance?,” she told reporters in comments translated by Reuters.

“We did draw conclusions from this case though. We registered this case ... we directly said that in response to strikes using British weapons against the territory of our country we may strike any British military objects and weaponry in Ukraine and beyond.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/23/ukraine-war-live-updates-latest-news-on-russia-and-the-war-in-ukraine.html

(This is how to start a nuclear war....)

 

[wing2000]

...bluffing.

 

[Kokavkrystallos]

...bluffing.

Ah, I recall that being said in 2021 & early 2022,

Russian forces are massing on Ukraine’s border. Bluff or not, Putin is playing with fire​

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/09/europe/russian-forces-ukraine-border-analysis-intl/index.html

Is Putin Bluffing on Ukraine War? Russian Media Coverage Offers Some Clues (Feb 4, 2022)​

Is Putin Bluffing on Ukraine War? Russian Media Coverage Offers Some Clues

With tensions running high, Kremlin-friendly outlets appear to be ramping up disinformation and casting NATO as the aggressor.

www.newsweek.com

Bluffing or for real? Russia’s military build-up on Ukrainian border raises questions on intent​

Bluffing or for real? Russia’s military build-up on Ukrainian border raises questions on intent

Fears are growing that the simmering conflict between the two countries could considerably worsen

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Vambram]

...bluffing.

I hope so and I believe that Russia is probably bluffing.

 

[Pommer]

Anybody else getting tired of the war-[inappropriate-content]?

 

[Kokavkrystallos]

Anybody else getting tired of the war-[inappropriate-content]?

Sure, but it's also wise not to remain in the dark and not know what's going on.

 

[Pommer]

Sure, but it's also wise not to remain in the dark and not know what's going on.

I’d be happy to experience the midnight-sunrise of a nuke flashing over the steel mill I’m rather close to, rather than waiting for it after days of being “in-the-know”.

Who would want to “survive” such calamity?

 

[Zaha Torte]

I’d be happy to experience the midnight-sunrise of a nuke flashing over the steel mill I’m rather close to, rather than waiting for it after days of being “in-the-know”.

Who would want to “survive” such calamity?

I see your point and recognize that us being in the know doesn't really affect any outcomes.

We may as well just live our lives as best we can.

I have found that being more connected and informed made everyone more stressed and miserable.

 

[wing2000]

I hope so and I believe that Russia is probably bluffing.

I meant Russia is bluffing.

Frankly, the western governments should privately give the green light to Ukraine to use the donated weapons for its defense. The fact is, Putin has already escalated by attacking Kharkiv . Ukraine has a right to defend itself and strike back at Russian artillery across the border.

 

[Hans Blaster]

Ah, I recall that being said in 2021 & early 2022,

Russian forces are massing on Ukraine’s border. Bluff or not, Putin is playing with fire​

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/09/europe/russian-forces-ukraine-border-analysis-intl/index.html

Russia is bluffing that they will strike the UK (US, Germany, etc.).

 

[stevil]

Yay, another pro Russian thread.
Keep them coming, never gets boring.

 

[tampasteve]

Worst bluff ever. Putin can barely make headway against Ukraine, he is not going to attack a NATO ally.

 

[stevil]

Worst bluff ever. Putin can barely make headway against Ukraine, he is not going to attack a NATO ally.

I just don't understand why members of this forum would spread Putin's words here. There is no benefit from spreading his nonsense.

 

[Kokavkrystallos]

I’d be happy to experience the midnight-sunrise of a nuke flashing over the steel mill I’m rather close to, rather than waiting for it after days of being “in-the-know”.

Who would want to “survive” such calamity?

I too would prefer the nuke to go off where I am vaporized and immediately translated into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dying of radiation poisoning? Noooooo.
Mad Max scenario? Nooooo

@ stevil, how is this "another pro Russia thread?"

??

 

[stevil]

@ stevil, how is this "another pro Russia thread?"

When you keep spreading what Putin says. No one is interested in anything Putin says. We are are just looking forward to hear of the news of his death.

Also when you keep blaming everyone except Putin for the war of for the threats that Putin spews out his disgusting orifice in that poor excuse for a face of his.
You ought to be annoyed at Putin's threats rather than blaming "the west" for his threats or his murderous attacks on his neighbors. Or your silly posts saying that Ukrainians are more Russian than Western. It doesn't matter what their culture is like, all that is relevant is that Putin keeps arming Russin babies and sending them over to Ukraine to try and kill as many Ukranians as possible.
The good thing is that with superior Western weaponry the Ukranians are able to fertilize their soil with the blood and nutrients of the Russian babies.
But it is rich to have sour puss Putin, invade, bomb and mass kill Ukranians on Ukrainian soil but then whine and cry if Ukraine send missiles into Russian territory. But then you seem to blame the West, rather than dare to criticise Putin for his unprovoked and murderous rampage on Ukraine. Go figure.

 

[Kokavkrystallos]

When you keep spreading what Putin says. No one is interested in anything Putin says. We are are just looking forward to hear of the news of his death.

Also when you keep blaming everyone except Putin for the war of for the threats that Putin spews out his disgusting orifice in that poor excuse for a face of his.
You ought to be annoyed at Putin's threats rather than blaming "the west" for his threats or his murderous attacks on his neighbors. Or your silly posts saying that Ukrainians are more Russian than Western. It doesn't matter what their culture is like, all that is relevant is that Putin keeps arming Russin babies and sending them over to Ukraine to try and kill as many Ukranians as possible.
The good thing is that with superior Western weaponry the Ukranians are able to fertilize their soil with the blood and nutrients of the Russian babies.
But it is rich to have sour puss Putin, invade, bomb and mass kill Ukranians on Ukrainian soil but then whine and cry if Ukraine send missiles into Russian territory. But then you seem to blame the West, rather than dare to criticise Putin for his unprovoked and murderous rampage on Ukraine. Go figure.

A lot has to do with the enlargement of NATO:

"In a speech at the Munich Security Conference in 2007, Vladimir Putin accused Western powers of violating a solemn pledge by considerably enlarging NATO – most notably with the Baltic countries joining the Alliance in 2004 – asking, "What happened to the assurances our Western partners made after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact?"

NATO has not stopped expanding since the fall of the Soviet Union, growing from 17 countries in 1990 to 30 today, several of which were once part of the Soviet-led Warsaw pact.

The origin of the betrayal claim​

To understand Russia’s claims of betrayal, it is necessary to review the reassurances then US secretary of state James A. Baker made to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during a meeting on February 9, 1990. In a discussion on the status of a reunited Germany, the two men agreed that NATO would not extend past the territory of East Germany, a promise repeated by NATO’s secretary general in a speech on May 17 that same year in Brussels.

Russia and the West finally struck an agreement in September that would allow NATO to station its troops beyond the Iron Curtain. However, the deal only concerned a reunified Germany, with further eastward expansion being inconceivable at the time.

"The Soviet Union still existed and the countries of Eastern Europe were still part of the Soviet structures – like the Warsaw Pact – which was not officially dissolved until July 1991," said Amélie Zima, doctor of political science at the Thucydide Centre (Panthéon-Assas) in Paris. "We cannot speak of betrayal, because a chain of events that would rearrange the security configuration in Europe was about to take place."

In short, at a time when Westerners were offering the "guarantees" spoken of by Vladimir Putin, no one could have predicted the collapse of the USSR and the historic upheavals that followed

"In addition, these promises were made orally and were never recorded in a treaty,” recalled Olivier Kempf, associate researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research. "The turning point of NATO enlargement came much later, in 1995, at the request of the Eastern European countries."

That year, NATO published a study on its enlargement before starting membership talks two years later with Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, all of which would become members in 1999. The addition of these new members has long sparked debate within NATO, thus undermining the Russian myth of a betrayal orchestrated by the West. "Even within the American administration, some thought that NATO should not expand because it would make it less effective, dilute its skills and become a financial burden," explained Zima.

Ukraine’s strategic importance​

For many years, the question of NATO enlargement has fuelled tensions between the United States and its allies, on the one side, and Russia on the other. In August 2008, Georgia's NATO and EU ambitions helped prompt Moscow to back pro-Russian separatists in Georgia’s self-proclaimed autonomous republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russia also views the alliance's anti-missile shield – established in 2016 in NATO member Romania – with great suspicion. A similar NATO base exists in Poland.

Faced with these Russian concerns, Western governments consistently underscore the defensive nature of the NATO alliance.

"The Russians find it difficult to accept NATO enlargement, but they forget that they signed a document called the NATO-Russia Founding Act in 1997, through which they become partners and committed to guaranteeing peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic area as well as the territorial integrity of all member states," Zima noted.

Today, Moscow is reviving its rhetoric in the context of the Ukraine crisis by turning Kiev's possible future NATO membership into a new red line not to be crossed.

Did NATO ‘betray’ Russia by expanding to the East?

The Kremlin claims the West broke a promise it made in the 1990s not to expand NATO, and is now using this claim to justify threats to invade Ukraine.

www.france24.com

(Perceptions, misunderstandings, whatever. The Western mind vs the Russian mind, ie: Churchill's quote, "I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma: but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interests.")

 

[stevil]

A lot has to do with the enlargement of NATO:

"In a speech at the Munich Security Conference in 2007, Vladimir Putin accused...

What we need to do, is stop listening to Putin and stop spread his word across the internet.
Putin attacked Ukraine because he wants it's land and resources and he thought he could take it by killing people for which he has built some weaponry.
Russia's big advantage is that they already have lots of land and lots of people. So they don't bother to worry too much about losses in a war. Their weaponry is inadequate and their "soldiers" are largely unmotiviated and insufficienly trained or supported. But there are lots of them. So he just keeps sending them (ultimately to their deaths).
He doesn't care, they are just a resource, for which he has lots of, his wars then are wars of attrition.

 

[Kokavkrystallos]

What we need to do, is stop listening to Putin and stop spread his word across the internet.
Putin attacked Ukraine because he wants it's land and resources and he thought he could take it by killing people for which he has built some weaponry.
Russia's big advantage is that they already have lots of land and lots of people. So they don't bother to worry too much about losses in a war. Their weaponry is inadequate and their "soldiers" are largely unmotiviated and insufficienly trained or supported. But there are lots of them. So he just keeps sending them (ultimately to their deaths).
He doesn't care, they are just a resource, for which he has lots of, his wars then are wars of attrition.

He also underestimated Ukrainian resolve and did not walk right in and take it in one week with minimal loss of life.
Many of the soldiers also expected a cake walk and were in for a rude awakening.

 

[stevil]

He also underestimated Ukrainian resolve and did not walk right in and take it in one week with minimal loss of life.
Many of the soldiers also expected a cake walk and were in for a rude awakening.

The soldiers thought they were on a training exercise, none of them thought they would be pointing their weapons at their neighbors and shooting them.
I very much doubt Putin thought his guys would be taking Ukraine in a week. He doesn't care about minimal loss of life, his track record is wars of attrition, bombing and seiging.

 

[jacks]

Their weaponry is inadequate and their "soldiers" are largely unmotiviated and insufficienly trained or supported. But there are lots of them. So he just keeps sending them (ultimately to their deaths).

It is a mistake to underestimate Russia's military. They are a formidable force.