Russian Embassy in Washington Talks Straight on Truth of Nuclear War Threat

Aug. 16, 2022 (EIRNS)—The Russian Embassy in Washington issued a statement (in Russian) on its Telegram channel late on Aug. 15, pointing out that it is the behavior of the United States that is responsible for heightening nuclear dangers.

“Today, the United States continues to act with no regard to other countries’ security and interests, which does contribute to an increase in nuclear risks. The U.S. steps to further engage in a hybrid confrontation with Russia in the context of the Ukrainian crisis are fraught with unpredictable escalation and a direct military clash of nuclear powers,”

the embassy said, responding to “sweeping rhetoric of the administration that Russia's actions allegedly do not correspond to the status of a responsible nuclear power,” reported TASS.

“This is happening in the circumstances of Washington’s targeted course towards dismantling the long-standing system of arms control and non-proliferation. The unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from the Intermedia-Range Nuclear Forces [INF] Treaty and the denunciation of its participation in the Open Skies Treaty have dealt a significant blow to the regimes of transparency and nuclear missile control.”

The embassy further countered:

“Our country faithfully fulfills its obligations as a nuclear-weapon state and makes every effort to reduce nuclear risks. On Russia’s initiative, the principle of the inadmissibility of a nuclear war was confirmed at the bilateral level and within the nuclear ‘five’ format. The START Treaty has been extended for a maximum period of five years. The dialogue on strategic stability, that was successfully developing before being ‘frozen’ by Washington in February this year, has been restarted.”

They remarked that “against this background, it is strange to hear accusations of irresponsibility, in particular from a country that in 1945 subjected the peaceful citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to atomic bombings” that killed 450,000 people.  So, in conclusion: “We suggest that Washington should take a closer look at its own nuclear policy instead of making unfounded accusations against the countries whose worldviews do not coincide with the American ones.”