The head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) in the Russian Federation, Markus Ederer, stated this Thursday that Russian authorities discuss the possibility of using nuclear weapons in a “tactical” waywith the aim of de-escalating the conflict caused by the invasion of Ukraine.
(Read here: US experts say the Russian invasion is a strategic disaster)
(Due to the public interest that the events between Russia and Ukraine arouse, all our coverage of that invasion and related actions will have free access for all readers of EL TIEMPO)
“In the corresponding circles there is a debate about using tactical nuclear weapons, it is not nuclear ‘armageddon’, but to show that if the enemy continues its advances, nuclear weapons are an option,” Ederer said during an appearance at the Human Rights Subcommittee of the European Parliament.
Ederer referred to the possible threat of atomic weapons from the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putinand made it clear that the EU does not have “intelligence agents” who can provide such information, although he did point out that there has been a “change in the formulation of the Russian security strategy”.
“A nuclear device can be used to stop a conventional attack on Russia. It is a doctrine of escalation to de-escalate the conflict”, he stressed, while making it clear that he did not know if atomic power would eventually be used in this crisis.
“I don’t know if nuclear weapons are going to be used, I’m not saying that especially now in the current context,” he said. The community ambassador acknowledged that he is sometimes concerned about “the language we use” when speaking of “economic war” due to the sanctions that the EU has imposed on Russia.
“Perceptions also affect reality and there are perceptions that can foster the idea that we are at war with Russia, and this can be a justification to continue moving forward,” he warned.
The European diplomat also warned that “perhaps we have not reached the last phase of the escalation.” “The Kremlin is on an escalatory path and I don’t think these peace talks are part of a plan where diplomacy prevails,” he said of negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations.
He explained that “Russian aggression is paralyzed to a certain extent but, due to their superiority, the Russians will achieve some of their objectives.”
“The Russian president is not willing to see himself as a loser on the battlefield, so the question is how to get out of this dynamic of escalation. What we see now is what qualifies as escalation dominance,” he stated, adding that “in our European mindset we should not underestimate the degree of escalation to which the Russian president is willing to go.”
(You may be interested: The eighth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine began with new bombings)
Ederer also alluded to interventions by MEPs about the possibility of “trying to influence the Russian attitude.”
“We’re not very good at that and I don’t think the Kremlin is going to be influenced by us either,” he acknowledged, adding that “we already make some mistakes.” For example, he regretted that some Member States have stopped issuing visas to Russian citizens and asked to “review” this situation and also take into account “students, the segment of the population that seeks information online and not through official media” .
“There are European universities that have started expelling their Russian students. That is a big mistake. What should be done is to extend the Erasmus program massively, invite the new generations to see how we live and how we think”, he defended.
Regarding the violation of Swedish airspace by four Russian fighter planes, Ederer indicated that it is “a very common pattern that Russia is using in this case to escalate the conflict and dominate.”
Russia denounces that Ukraine was working to get the atomic bomb
The head of the Russian Foreign Espionage Service (SVR), Sergei Naryskin, denounced that Ukraine was working on the manufacture of an atomic bomb.
“According to data from the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukraine retained (from the Soviet Union) the technical potential to create nuclear weapons and has more capabilities to do so than Iran or North Korea.
Moreover, according to SVR intelligence data, Ukraine was working in that direction,” he said in a statement. According to Naryshkin, not only Russia was aware of this, but also the United States.
“However, they not only did not hinder these plans, but were ready to give the Ukrainians a boost, hoping that Ukrainian missiles with nuclear warheads would target not the West, but the East,” he denounced.
(In other news: Nuclear threat from war weighs on ‘all humanity,’ says UN)
The head of the SVR asserted that the West seeks to impose an economic, informational and humanitarian blockade on Russia in order to destroy it. “The mask has been removed. The West is not only trying to surround Russia with a new ‘iron curtain’.
It is about trying to destroy our state, its ‘cancellation’ as the tolerant liberal-fascist media now say,” he added.
Naryshkin indicated that “since neither the United States nor its allies have either the possibility or the courage to try to do it openly and in an honest political-military confrontation, they viciously try to impose an economic, informational and humanitarian blockade.”
“The most repulsive thing is that all this is done under misleading slogans about the need to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty and European security,” he said.
Something that Western politicians and experts define as “a new cold war”, but which, in Russia’s opinion – he pointed out – “is already a fairly hot war”.
EFE
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