geopolitical tensions Archives

PUTIN ON THE BLITZ Putin’s top ally Dmitry Medvedev warns of World War 3 if UK troops are sent to Ukraine & says they’d be ‘destroyed’

VLADIMIR Putin’s closest ally has threatened to unleash World War 3 on the West if UK sends troops on to Ukrainian soil.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that any Brit soldiers training soldiers inside Ukraine would be legitimate targets for Russian forces and “ruthlessly destroyed”.

Dmitry Medvedev warned UK troops would face Russia’s wrathCredit: EPA

The Putin crony also warned he would strike German factories supply Kyiv with Taurus missilesCredit: EPA

The Kremlin mouthpiece’s furious claims were made after British defence secretary Grant Shapps said he was considering deploying UK troops to train soldiers inside Ukraine.

Medvedev is seen as Vlad’s ‘yes man’ and often makes blood curdling threats aimed at Nato states.

Now, the lap dog’s latest chilling warning is that the West’s actions are bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war.

He directed his fury at Shapps who told The Sunday Telegraph that he wants to “eventually” deploy military instructors to Ukraine in addition to training Ukrainian troops in Britain.

In a post on Telegram, Medvedev fumed: “The number of leading idiots in Nato countries is growing.

“One newly minted cretin – the British Minister of Defence – decided to transfer English training courses for Ukrainian soldiers to the territory of Ukraine itself.

“These idiots are actively pushing us towards a Third World War.”

He continued: “[This will] turn their instructors into a legal target for our armed forces.”

“Understanding perfectly well that they will be ruthlessly destroyed. And not as mercenaries, but namely as British Nato specialists.”

The presidential spokesperson also warned that German factories producing Taurus missiles would also be a target should they supply Kyiv.

Moscow fears that the German-made missiles could strike within Russian territory and help cut off its supply to its army.

Rishi Sunak later clarified the defence secretary’s comments and shut down speculation that Brit soldiers could enter the war-torn region imminently.

He said today: “What the Defence Secretary was saying was that it might well be possible one day in the future for us to do some of that training in Ukraine.

“That’s something for the long term, not the here and now, there are no British soldiers that will be sent to fight in the current conflict.

More than 20,000 recruits from Ukraine have received training in the UK since the start of 2022.

However, Nato members have avoided training programmes in Ukraine due to the risk of personnel being targeted by Russia.

Shapps said he has spoken with Army chiefs about moving “more training” into Ukraine and called on British defence firms to set up shop in the country.

The defence minister also revealed he had spoken to Ukrainian president Vlodymyr Zelensky about Britain playing a more active role in the Black Sea, where Russia has targeted cargo ships.

“Britain is a naval nation so we can help and we can advise, particularly since the water is international water,” he said.

“It’s important we don’t allow a situation to establish by default that somehow international shipping isn’t allowed in that water.

“There’s a lot of places where Britain can help advise,” he said cryptically.

He said Britain is also looking for ways to help Ukraine get in shape for membership of Nato.

Earlier this month, Medvedev issued a chilling nuclear threat to the United States on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

He wrote on Telegram: “Terrorists will again carry out an attack in the style of September 11, 2001, but with an atomic or biological component.

“Or even worse: one of the leaders of nuclear countries will lose their nerve, and he will make an emotional decision to use weapons of mass destruction.”

He ended his ominous message with: “And then that would be it. The end of the ball game.

“There will be only to collect money for a new monument in the neighbourhood of Ground Zero. At best.”

In July, he threatened that World War 3 was getting closer as Nato leaders signed a new security package for Ukraine.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/9223083/putins-ally-world-war-3-uk-troops/

Blinken hails Kyiv’s pushback against Russia in visit clouded by attack

Ukraine has made important progress in its counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday during a visit overshadowed by a Russian attack that killed at least 17 people.

Police officers and rescuers carry the body of a person killed by a Russian military strike in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, September 6, 2023. Press service of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned the attack, which hit a crowded market in the eastern front-line town of Kostiantynivka, which is close to the devastated city of Bakhmut. He said a child was among the dead, and officials said at least 32 people were hurt.

“This Russian evil must be defeated as soon as possible,” Zelenskiy said, describing it as a deliberate attack on a “peaceful city”. Aides posted video footage showing an explosion after what sounded like a missile approaching, and people scurrying for cover or falling to the ground.

Russia did not immediately comment on the attack, and has denied deliberately targeting civilians in its more than 18-month-old invasion, which has shattered towns and cities and killed thousands of civilians.

Blinken, the first top U.S. official to visit Kyiv since the counteroffensive began in early June, announced a new package of U.S. wartime assistance worth more than $1 billion, including support for Ukraine’s air defences.

“In the ongoing counteroffensive, progress has accelerated in the past few weeks. This new assistance will help sustain it and build further momentum,” Blinken told reporters at a news conference with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Blinken earlier described the progress as important and “very, very encouraging”.

U.S. media reports have cited unidentified U.S. officials as saying the Ukrainian counteroffensive has been too slow and hindered by poor tactics – criticism that angered Ukrainian officials and prompted Kuleba to tell critics to “shut up”.

Ukraine has retaken more than a dozen villages and small settlements in its offensive. But its push into Russian-held territory has been slowed by minefields and trenches.

U.S. officials have not publicly criticised Ukraine’s military tactics, and last week said they had seen progress in the southeast.

The new U.S. aid would include HIMARS missile launch systems, Javelin antitank weapons, Abrams tanks and other weapons systems, White House press secretary Larine Jean-Pierre said. The Pentagon said it would also send depleted uranium ammunition.

Asked about Blinken’s visit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peso said Moscow believed Washington planned to continue funding Ukraine’s military “to wage this war to the last Ukrainian”.

He said U.S. aid to Kyiv would not affect the course of what he called Russia’s special military operation.

LONG-RANGE MISSILES

Ukraine’s Kuleba said he and Blinken had discussed the U.S. providing ATACMS long-range missiles and he hoped for a positive decision, adding that arming Ukraine was protecting the world from Moscow’s aggression.

The European Union condemned the Russian attack on the market in Kostiantynivka – which took place on the second day of Blinken’s visit to Kyiv – calling it “heinous and barbaric” and said those behind it would be held to account.

When the shells hit, pharmacy employee Diana Khodak saw a flash and shouted to colleagues to lie on the floor. “I heard things falling over, then everything was covered in smoke and fire started,” she said.

Two injured women were brought to the pharmacy, one carried by a soldier. She had a bone protruding from an open leg fracture. “She was very pale. She remained conscious but in shock while she was given first aid,” Khodak told Reuters.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/blinken-visits-kyiv-amid-challenging-ukrainian-counteroffensive-2023-09-06/

US says North Korea will ‘pay a price’ for any weapons supplies to Russia

Arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea are actively advancing, a U.S. official said on Tuesday and warned leader Kim Jong Un that his country would pay a price for supplying Russia with weapons to use in Ukraine.

Providing weapons to Russia “is not going to reflect well on North Korea and they will pay a price for this in the international community,” U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House.

The Kremlin said earlier on Tuesday it had “nothing to say” about statements by U.S. officials that Kim planned to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin and discuss weapons supplies to Moscow.

Kim expects discussions about weapons to continue, Sullivan said, including at leader level and “perhaps even in person”.

“We have continued to squeeze Russia’s defense industrial base,” Sullivan said, and Moscow is now “looking to whatever source they can find” for goods like ammunition.

“We will continue to call on North Korea to abide by its public commitments not to supply weapons to Russia that will end up killing Ukrainians,” Sullivan said.

On Monday, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Kim and Putin could be planning to meet, and the New York Times cited unnamed U.S. and allied officials as saying Kim plans to travel to Russia as soon as next week to meet Putin.

Asked if he could confirm the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “No, I can’t. There’s nothing to say.”

As Russia’s isolation over its war in Ukraine has grown, it has seen increasing value in North Korea, according to political analysts. For North Korea’s part, relations with Russia have not always been as warm as they were at the height of the Soviet Union, but now the country is reaping clear benefits from Moscow’s need for friends.

MOSCOW-PYONGYANG DEFENSE COOPERATION

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during their meeting in Vladivostok, Russia, April 25, 2019. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS//File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

A North Korean defense ministry official in November said Pyongyang has “never had ‘arms dealings’ with Russia” and has “no plan to do so in the future.”

Moscow and Pyongyang have promised to boost defense cooperation.

Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who visited Pyongyang in July to attend weapons displays that included North Korea’s banned ballistic missiles, said on Monday the two countries are discussing the possibility of joint military exercises.

“Just as you can tell a person by their friends, you can tell a country by the company it keeps,” said Keir Giles, Senior Consulting Fellow with Chatham House’s Russia & Eurasia Programme. “In Russia’s case, that company now consists largely of fellow rogue states.”

The trip would be Kim’s first visit abroad in more than four years and the first since the coronavirus pandemic.

While he made more trips abroad than his father as leader, Kim’s travel is often shrouded in secrecy and heavy security. Unlike his father who was said to be averse to flying, Kim has flown his personal Russian-made jet for some of his trips but U.S. officials told the New York Times that he may take an armored train across the land border North Korea shares with Russia.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/kremlin-says-nothing-say-possible-visit-by-north-koreas-kim-2023-09-05/

FACE OFF Between Russia & France In Africa: ECOWAS Threatens War, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger Close Ranks

West African defense chiefs are planning a potential military intervention in Niger if the coup authorities do not restore the overthrown government by Sunday, indicating the possibility of a major regional war.

The conflict also draws in middle powers, France and Russia, on opposite sides of the Niger coup, although none have directly challenged the other.

Abdel-Fatau Musah, the commissioner for political affairs, peace, and security in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said about the military plans being drawn up as a signal to the Niger-Burkina Faso-Mali (N-BF-M) grouping “All the elements of an eventual intervention have been worked out, including the resources, the how and when,” according to a report in Al Jazeera.

Musah made the statement at the close of a three-day meeting in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. ECOWAS has already imposed sanctions on Niger and said it could authorize using force if the coup leaders do not restore power to elected President Mohamed Bazoum by Sunday.

Nigeria is leading the charge against Niger in the ECOWAS, with Abuja already having cut off electricity supply to Niamey.

The 15-member body also sent a delegation to Niger on Thursday seeking an “amicable resolution,” but a source in the entourage said a meeting at the airport with the military’s representatives yielded no breakthrough, the report added.

The Niger coup and its backing by Burkina Faso and Mali against the ECOWAS represents a broader pushback against France and an attraction towards Russia. It has been in the making since last year when protests against Paris broke out in its former colonies in the Sahel.

Russia-Africa Summit
The events in the Sahel also nearly coincide with the Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg, where the entire continent openly sought engagement with Russia and either directly or indirectly expressed disillusionment with global politics unfairly skewed in the affluent West’s favor.

But what was stunning was the leaders of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Uganda, and Burkina Faso’s charismatic coup leader and army officer, Captain Ibrahim Traore, openly attacking the West.

They slammed its hegemonistic policies; “neo-colonial” exploitation that has perpetuated poverty in the continent; mentioned its slave trade over five centuries; imposed sanctions on vulnerable countries as a retaliatory measure; and expressed gratitude towards the former Soviet Union for backing its post-War anti-Colonial anti-Apartheid freedom struggles from European powers.

The Kremlin has released the full transcript of the addresses by various African heads of state in the summit meeting and their separate bilateral meetings with President Vladimir Putin.

‘Russia Involved But Not Interfering’
The current emerging conflict, however, threatens to engulf the entire Sahel region and possibly spread to parts of the Maghreb if Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali (N-BF-M) clash with Nigeria and France. While Paris and Moscow will not directly clash in the possible regional war, even an initial backing of opposing camps will cause substantial devastation before the two powers arrange a truce.

Russia has attempted to contain the conflict since it has not interfered in the events and the anti-French protests, as observed in official US White House and National Security Council (NSC) statements. Such an act would otherwise prompt its Western rivals to respond and lead to an escalatory spiral of counteractions, which, even if diplomatic, can precipitate a military conflict between the ECOWAS and N-BF-M.

But what marks the episode is the growing anti-French protests and pro-Russia demonstrations over the last year in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR), and the Central African Republic (CAR).

France Failed To Provide Security
CNN quoted Nigerien protestors, who cited the running criticism of still enduring France’s paternalistic colonial attitude that still dictates the country’s policies. A French colony for more than 50 years before its independence in 1960, diplomatic ties between the two countries were strong before the coup.

“But many Nigeriens believe France has continued to act as imperial power when dealing with Niger, robbing it of natural resources and dictating how its leaders steer the economy. Niger is one of the world’s poorest countries and receives hundreds of millions of dollars each year in assistance,” CNN said.

Source: https://www.eurasiantimes.com/face-off-between-russia-france-in-africa-ecowas-threatens-war-burkina-faso-mali-niger-close-ranks/

NUKE THREAT Ex-Russian president Medvedev warns we’re closer than ever to World War Three – and risk of nuclear oblivion is growing

THE risk of nuclear oblivion is edging closer as humanity stands on the brink of World War 3, Russia’s ex-President has warned.

Dmitry Medvedev is a close ally of Vladimir Putin and made the chilling warning amid rising tensions between the Russia and the West over the Ukraine war.

Dmitry Medvedev is a former Russian President and close ally of Vladimir PutinCredit: EPA

Medvedev has made several threats of approaching nuclear warCredit: East2West

Kremlin jets recently brought down an American drone with both sides displaying nuclear bombers in shows of strength.

Fears have been raised Putin could still use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, as the prospect of victory ebbs away from him, in a final act of destruction.

Medvedev, 57, is currently the deputy head of Russia’s powerful Security Council and a former prime minister.

He told an audience in Moscow the West was to blame for taking the world to the brink of Armageddon.

He said: “The world is sick and is on the edge of the Third World War. And although we tried to avoid war for 30 years, it was imposed on us.”

He added that the threat of climate change was nothing compared to that of nuclear war “which exists today unfortunately”.

“It’s growing with every day for known reasons. The Western world was unfair to our country to a large extent. Did they hear us? No, they didn’t.”

Medvedev went on to warn that Russia was itself prepared to use nuclear weapons.

He spelt out that Russian doctrine “makes it clear that nuclear weapons may be used if Russia faces an act of aggression involving other types of weapons, which threaten the very existence of the state”.

He added: “In fact, it is about using nuclear weapons in response to such actions.

“Our potential adversaries should not underestimate this.

“All these speculations about how the Russians will never do this are worthless.

“The Western analysts and Western commanders – both military and political leaders – should simply assess our rules and our intentions.”

Medvedev was elected president of Russia in 2008 after Putin was forced to step down due to term limits.

He was once considered more liberal than Putin but has become more and more hardline in his statements, particularly since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/7959111/medvedev-warns-closer-world-war-three-nuclear/?utm_campaign=native_share&utm_source=sharebar_native&utm_medium=sharebar_native