Russian Diplomats Issue Dire Warnings that War with US Is Close

 

by Kyle Anzalone | Feb 15, 2023

The Kremlin’s top diplomat warned Russia is reaching “the point of no return.” Meanwhile, Moscow’s representative to the UN stated that all of the Russian “redlines have already been crossed.”

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov informed the Russian Duma that the Kremlin has “reached the point of no return.” The top Russian diplomat was referencing NATO expansion and Western support for Ukraine when he made the comment. 

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Washington promised Moscow the North Atlantic alliance would end its expansion with Germany. However, Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump all added new members to the alliance. 

Critically, NATO planned to expand to Ukraine. In 2008, then-State Department official, and current CIA Director, William Burns wrote a memo stating Kiev’s ascension into NATO would cross the brightest of red lines for Moscow. 

Still, President Joe Biden pressed ahead with making Ukraine a member of the alliance. By September 2021, Kiev was a de facto NATO member, according to foreign policy analyst Ted Galen Carpenter. 

Dmitry Polyanskiy, the Russian Ambassador to the UN, in an interview with Newsweek on Tuesday and made it clear the Kremlin views the Western relationship with Kiev as a breach of its core security concerns. 

“All the red lines have already been crossed by Western countries,” Polyanskiy continued, “it’s the situation when the targets of certain artillery systems, in particular HIMARS, these targets can be hit only with the coordination with Washington, and this was acknowledged by Ukrainian officials.”

Last week, The Washington Post reported that Ukraine relies on American intelligence for selecting targets. Since the start of the year, the White House has authorized sending advanced tanks and long-range rockets to Kiev. Additionally, NATO appears to be preparing to send Western-made warplanes to Ukraine. 

“It means that NATO is not only providing weapons but also are choosing the targets for Ukrainian strikes,” Polyanskiy said. 

He went on to allege that soldiers from NATO countries are already fighting, as well as getting captured and killed, in Ukraine. “We know this from the people that we capture and from the bodies that we see on the battlefield. Yes, there are no NATO troops on the ground,” Polyanskiy added. 

The ambassador said Western weapons were escalating the conflict and referenced Russia’s nuclear weapons, “It’s absolutely clear that any deliveries of weapons to the zone of conflict, of course, is like pouring oil into the fire.” He continued, “If you are dealing with a nuclear power and if you are citing the goal of inflicting defeat to this nuclear power, you should have all the options in mind of our possible response.” 

In both their remarks the diplomats also pointed to potential American involvement in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines. Last week, Seymour Hersh published a bombshell report that claimed Washington planned and destroyed the pipelines. The White House has denied that it had any involvement. However, Senator Mike Lee said it is possible. 

Lavrov said the denial from the Joe Biden administration is a lie. The West is “lying, hiding the truth about the terrorist attacks on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream-2 gas pipelines, just as they lied about the Minsk agreements,” he said. 

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel claimed the Minsk agreement, which ostensibly was meant to end the civil war in Ukraine, was really about giving Kiev time to build up its military. In a December 1 interview with Der Spiegel, Merkel said that she believes that “during the Minsk talks, she was able to buy the time Ukraine needed to better fend off the Russian attack.” 

On Wednesday, Polyanskiy posted on Telegram that Moscow requested a UN meeting next week to address Hersh’s reporting. “In light of new information regarding the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, we have requested a UN Security Council meeting,” he said.

https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/russian-diplomats-issue-dire-warnings-that-war-with-us-is-close/

About Kyle Anzalone

Kyle Anzalone is news editor of the Libertarian Institute, opinion editor of Antiwar.com and co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Will Porter and Connor Freeman.