There is no other way to interpret it: Washington and its client NATO members are declaring war on Russia.
That is the direct meaning of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forthcoming visit to Washington, where the parties will agree on targets inside Russia.
To say this is an insane, reckless move is an understatement. This is the most dangerous step possible for the US and NATO – and it will likely lead to World War III.
Don’t believe any rhetoric “justifying” the use of long-range missiles on Russia. Putin has pointed out that while Ukraine will host the missiles, they will be fired by NATO personnel who will also insert the targeting data coming from overhead satellites covering Russian territory. Those satellites are American.
The upcoming Zelensky-Joe Biden meeting should also include Vice President Kamala Harris, so she takes full responsibility for starting a war.
No one can presume what the outcome will be. Will Russia unleash nuclear weapons and bring a definitive end to the Ukraine war? Will it shoot down American satellites? Will Russia send rockets to hit supply depots in Europe, especially in Poland, which is the jumping-off point for military supplies to Ukraine?
There are many other possibilities open to Russia. Russia could transfer nuclear weapons to Iran, for example, or to Syria.
The truth is Washington wants to take up Zelensky’s proposals for deep strikes on Russian territory because Ukraine is losing the war and could be defeated even before the presidential elections in November.
The Biden-Harris team will have to explain why they kept backing a loser, causing tens of thousands of casualties, instead of seeking a diplomatic settlement that was easily within their grasp.
Here again, Washington stopped a deal in the making between Ukraine and Russia, and Biden and Harris are directly responsible for that.
Zelensky’s strategy is easy to grasp. He knows everything is falling apart and Ukraine won’t be able to fight anymore by winter, as its infrastructure, especially electrical power but also fuel, dries up.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski says that Ukraine’s electrical power has been degraded by 70%, perhaps more. So Zelensky’s strategy is to bring NATO directly into the war. And, stupidly and arrogantly, Washington is playing the same game.
No one, other than the UK, wants to see a war in Europe. The UK is no longer an important European country and lacks a land army worth talking about.
Instead its government built a couple of massively expensive aircraft carriers that function poorly, if at all, instead of strengthening its military and rebuilding its defenses.
In any case, the UK dances to the US tune. The British are anxious to attack Russia but haven’t bothered to figure out what will happen when Russia blows up the UK.
The big question is why Washington wants to fire missiles into Russia. It means that Biden, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken know that their Ukraine policy is a disaster.
Instead of trying to open communications with the Russians, they are upping the ante and taking huge risks, with little idea of how things will end up, unless they are really getting ready to send in NATO troops and use NATO airpower in the Ukraine war.
Russia may not match the US in many military categories but it occupies a large landmass and has strategic and tactical nuclear weapons.
For years, we have known that Russia’s military does not really differentiate between tactical and strategic nuclear systems; rather it sees them all along a continuum to be used as necessary.
What this means is that Russia can launch ICBMs and submarine IRBMs against US continental targets. People in Washington should understand that the US has almost no continental air defenses capable of stopping a Russian nuclear attack.
For years, strategists have worried about a so-called “first strike” capability. I can’t say Russia really has that, but no one should want to find out.
The only hope is to persuade our current leaders, soon to be replaced, that they will be held accountable for starting a war without any grounds for doing so.
One of the features of government is that people make decisions without taking responsibility. In the case of World War III, no matter what soap opera propaganda flows into US newspapers, our leaders will have a lot of blood on their hands if they go ahead with bombing Russia.
Stephen Bryen is senior correspondent at Asia Times. He served as staff director of the Near East Subcommittee of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as a deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.
This article was originally published on his Weapons and Strategy Substack, and is republished with permission.
Somebody finally spells it out. There has never been a possible way for Ukraine to win a war against Russia. What needs to be sorted out here, who were those in Ukraine who decided on this war? Did Kamala really spoke with Putin a few days before the Russian invasion as Trump stated? Very likely YES, so says Kamala’s body language in the video of the recent debate. Kamala’s mission was to give Putin the final kick to start the invasion. Mission accomplished.
Either the naivety, arrogance or simply lack of experience of the new British Labour government they seem, as the US, keen to hit distant targets in Russia. That’s “fine & dandy” but don’t they realise having absolutely no air defences they leave themselves, their population equally open to accurate long range retaliation? Personally unless I was deep underground I would not fancy meetings at No10 or their Foreign Office once their decision is made!
Seems like the US called their British attack dogs (poodles?) off by refusing to share satellite coordinates. Says a lot for independent deterrence.
Russia is kaput, demographically, militarily etc. But it seems like the US wants to prolong the war (they’re only Slavs after all), rather than kick in the rotting structure of Russland once and for all.
We are all going to die because of some old, arrogant fools with power. Why can’t we all just get along?!
Tell it to Putin.
Putin is the only leader who has behaved in a dignified & professional manner since 22/02/2022
Biden, Blinken & their UK nongs are insane.
Desperation leads to extreme actions. One big mistake leads to numerous other mistakes. Biden as a seasoned politician but not even a second rate strategist didn’t think through how huge the cost it would be for the US to provoke Putin. He should have. Blinken and Sullivan are put in impossible position to clean up the mess. Now comes the crunch time. Everything will blow up in their faces. Maybe the world.
The Dems have stoked this, Clinton etc. But they won’t clean up their mess.
However Putin has already lost. A brother Slavic nation that has fought and suffered side by side with Russians for over 300yrs are now implacable enemies.
I am SLOVAK and I publicly claim that politicians Kier Stamer and Joe Biden are FASCISTS. Ukrainians cannot operate long-range US and British weapons.
The fascist Kier Stamer is asking the fascist Joe Biden for permission for the British army and the US army, respectively NATO, to fire long-range missiles at Russia from the territory of Ukraine at the request of the no longer legitimate president of Ukraine Zelensky. Britain and the US WILL START WORLD WAR III because Russia’s response will be to immediately launch hypersonic missiles at Britain and the US
Do you mean they are like Jozef Gašpar Tiso?
Does the US leadership (?) understand the consequences of their actions? They are playing with fire—WW3. Russia didn’t start this, the US did, in 2014.
Of course they did. They maneuvered Putin into devastating Ukr and Russland.
Russia is finished and Putin needed to sit on a very soft cushion for a week after visiting Xi.
Luckily for him Xi, like all Chinese, have very small demands. Siberia?
All wars are stupid but this one undertake with a diplomatic solution already in place and being implemented ( Minsk treaty) is criminal dementia. As a first result already hundreds of thousant have died for letteraly nothing. Now we all risk maimen and tragedy…. I just hope Americans will get at least some share of the medicine they are pushing on Europe trough ours pathetic leaders.
Minsk Treaty which Russia broke ?
This is a stupid war that should have never been allowed to start. It is in no-one’s interest except the armaments manufacturers. In the first year of WWII Krupp made 100 million dollars profit, which was big money those days. Last year, Rheinmetall, the German armaments manufacturer, doubled its profits.
Was that all the helmets that Germany sent to Ukraine ?