Juan Pablo Duch
Correspondent
The newspaper La Jornada
Friday, July 19, 2024, p. 27
Moscow. If the United States deploys its missiles on German territory from 2026, Russia will not rule out deploying nuclear weapons on its western flank to hit potential targets in Europe as one of its possible responses, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday.
I do not exclude any variantthe Russian Defense Ministry responded to the Svezda television channel, which asked whether Russia was considering countering this threat by installing nuclear weapons.
Ryabkov added that Nothing is defined yet and held the Berlin government responsible for to launch a new escalationwhich forces Moscow to react with compensatory measures that it considers most appropriate, weighing when, where and what must install.
The diplomat said that It is not a threat to anyonebut Moscow has to calibrate the maximum range of options to design the most effective response algorithm to changing threatsespecially taking into account the military capacity of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
For Riabkov, the West remains the escalation path under made-up excuses in search of reasons to accuse us of something else that threatens their safety. It is unfortunate, but nothing will stop us when it comes to ensuring our own safety..
He concluded: We must prepare for all kinds of scenarios, including adverse ones, in terms of a possible significant increase in the nuclear potential of the United States..
Complex anti-aircraft defense system
On the other hand, the Kremlin reacted immediately to the proposal of Ursula von der Leyen, re-elected this Thursday by the European Parliament in Strasbourg as President of the European Commission, to appoint a Defence Commissioner to “build common European projects – she maintains in her political guidelines for the period 2024-2029, published yesterday –, for example: a complete anti-aircraft defence system, which protects our airspace and sends a clear and strong message of European unity in the field of continental defence”.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: Ms. von der Leyen suggests changing the priorities of the European Union and giving it a military character and, after admitting the need to wait for the plans of the President of the European Commission to be finalized, he added that In any case, this confirms the general attitude of European states towards militarisation, the escalation of tensions and the commitment to confrontational methods in their foreign policy..
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled yesterday to Woodstock, Great Britain, to attend the fourth summit of the European Political Community – which was born in October 2022 as a forum for discussions on the future of Europe between members of the European Union (EU) and neighboring countries – and sign new bilateral security agreements (more weapons, above all) with Great Britain and other states of the continent.
Addressing the leaders of 45 countries, Zelensky said: We managed to keep Europe united by acting together, and that’s why (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has not achieved any of his goals (by invading Ukraine in February 2022).news agencies highlight.
Zelensky harshly criticized Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for traveling to Moscow in peace mission and meet with the Kremlin chief at the start of his country’s rotating EU presidency.
If someone in Europe tries to settle matters behind our backs, if someone pays visits to the war capital and perhaps promises something against our interests, why take him into account? The EU can settle its affairs without such a person.Zelensky said, referring to Orbán.
