Russia former President warns that Russia's threats to use nuclear weapons are not a bluff.

 

Former Russian President and current head of the Security Council Dimitry Medvedev. Reuters. 

Former Russian President and current head of the Security Council Dimitry Medvedev said that Russia's threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine are not a bluff. Reuters. Medvedev said that tactical nuclear weapons could be used in Ukraine if the West does not change course. Medvedev said the conflict was developing into a worst case scenario. He also said that Russia considers all long ranged Ukrainian weapons to be crewed by NATO servicemembers and that counts as a direct attack by NATO on Russia itself. Medvedev said those attacks are a casus belli for a declaration of war. Medvedev is considered a hardliner compared to current Russian President Putin but his words are thought to represent the hard line faction in Russia. The comments come after Joe Biden quietly allowed Ukraine to strike targets in Russia using US provided long range weapons.

My Comment:

This is a fairly stark warning from a still powerful man in Russia. But it is important to note that Medvedev is a hard liner and does not speak for Putin directly. He's consistently been one of the most anti-NATO voices in Russia and a far cry from Putin who was at least willing to talk to the west before they went totally insane. 

But I also think that Medvedev is right, Russia would have a valid casus belli for war against the west. He's right about western troops operating these long range weapon systems, including weapons that have been used to target both infrastructure and civilians in Russia itself. The west is in a de facto war with Russia at this point and the only thing that isn't making it a de jure war is the restraint of Putin.

Which is why it always makes me laugh when the west's plan was to have Putin removed from office... somehow. Assuming such a thing was even possible there is no guarantee that whoever would replace him would suddenly bend the knee and do whatever it is the west wants this week. Indeed, we are a lot more likely to see someone like Medvedev take power, if not Medvedev himself. I am guessing if Putin were to be out of power somehow, most likely due to advanced age or poor health, it wouldn't be long before the west missed him. 

Will nuclear weapons be used in Ukraine? I kind of doubt it. Perhaps if NATO deploys hundreds of thousands of troops it will happen then but until that point Russia has little to gain by using tactical nuclear weapons. It's very clear now that Russia is winning the war and the only real way they could "lose" is if a major nuclear exchange were to happen between NATO and Russia. I put lose in quotes there because mutually assured destruction is just that, nobody would win in a nuclear war. 

Still, I have no idea what the west is thinking, if they are thinking at all at this point. They seem utterly deranged when it comes to Russia and have no real understanding that Ukraine is a lost cause. Instead they are just doubling down again and again. Sending F-16's or even a small contingent of training troops won't change the outcome. Hell, even a nuclear war wouldn't let Ukraine win. But at this point the leadership in the west is so deranged that they might not even care if their allies, soldiers or even own civilian people get nuked as long as they get proven "right" in the end. 

A couple days ago when the Trump trial happened I said that the real story was Biden allowing US weapons to attack Russia directly. I said back then that conviction would be a moot point if the election doesn't happen because we all got nuked because Biden's terrible foreign policy. Looks like I may have been right, though I still hope, somehow, that cooler heads prevail...