Putin Declares Russia Could Launch Nuclear Strike In Response to Conventional Attack | BBC News

Nov 20, 2024 | Vladimir Putin has signed a decree lowering the threshold for Russia's use of nuclear weapons. It follows a US decision to allow Ukraine to carry out long-range missile strikes on Russia using American weapons. Ukraine has carried out its first such attack, with Russia confirming that US ATACMS missiles have hit its Bryansk region.

Russia’s revised nuclear doctrine states that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack. An attack on Russia with conventional missiles, drones or aircraft could meet the criteria for a nuclear response.

The Kremlin urged other countries to study the changes. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the decree as “a very important text” and said "it should become a subject to a very deep analysis".

Recently Russia warned it would deliver “an appropriate and tangible” response to the US President's decision to let Ukraine use ATACMS missiles to strike the country. Russia's foreign ministry said that such an attack "would represent the direct involvement of the United States and its satellites in hostilities against Russia”.

Joe Biden’s change of policy comes two months before Donald Trump is sworn in as the new US President. Mr Trump has claimed that he will help bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine.

Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Steve Rosenberg, Nick Eardley, Vicki Young and Lyse Doucet.

Russia Does Not Want to See a Nuclear War, Lavrov Says

Nov 19, 2024 | Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says "we are strongly in favor of doing everything not to allow nuclear war to happen." This after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a doctrine to lower the threshold for using atomic weapons. Lavrov says the updated doctrine doesn't add anything the West wouldn't know. He speaks in Brazil at the G-20.

Russian State TV Discusses Possibility of Nuclear War

Apr 29, 2022 • Chris Hayes on ominous signs that Putin may be trying to get the Russian public on board with a serious escalation of war.

Could Putin Really Start a Nuclear War? | The Economist

After invading Ukraine nearly a week ago, Putin has now ordered Russia’s nuclear forces to be on high alert. Shashank Joshi, The Economist’s defence editor, answers questions on whether the war in Ukraine could escalate into a nuclear conflict.

Nuclear War Risk Rises as Tension Mounts between Nuclear Superpowers over Ukraine

Feb 23, 2022 • Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to order troops into the separatist-controlled areas of Ukraine has triggered a new wave of sanctions against Russia, amid fears the situation could spiral into an all-out war. We speak with Dr. Ira Helfand, former president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, who warns a war could lead to the use of nuclear weapons that would annihilate millions and cause total collapse of world ecosystems. "We have found it almost impossible to imagine, 30 years after the end of the Cold War, that there could be a nuclear war between the United States and Russia, but the crisis in Ukraine is putting exactly that possibility on the table again," says Helfand.

John Bolton Gets Us One Step Closer to Nuclear War with Russia

Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton is blocking talks at the moment that could help extend a nuclear treaty between the US and Russia, and instead he wants the US to just pull out of these nuclear agreements. Not only is this move being derided as hasty and reckless, it would also send a signal to the rest of the world that the US is no longer keeping their word on agreements from the past. This is dangerous, and John Bolton is clearly calling the shots in this administration. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

Gorbachev and the Opportunity for Peace Wasted | DW Documentary

Mikhail Gorbachev wrote world history with his politics: from the 1985 elections to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. [Online until: 02.11.2018]

This documentary looks at one of the most gripping chapters in contemporary history from the election of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War four years later. It features exclusive interviews with the former Soviet leader and leading politicians and statesmen active on the international stage at the time. Mikhail Gorbachev was elected Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985. His policies of "glasnost" - "openness" - and "perestroika" - "restructuring" - ultimately ended in the collapse of Moscow’s empire and changed the course of world history. But in the end, his legacy is still at best an ambiguous one. This documentary examines one of the most exciting chapters in contemporary history since the Second World War and talks to former French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine and German politician Horst Teltschik, both of whom played important roles in German reunification. Gorbachev's former national security adviser Alexander Likhotal and others also chart the way nuclear weapons have continued to spread throughout the multipolar world that grew out of the end of the Cold War. Could this new arms race bring us to the brink of nuclear war again? The film draws on the wisdom and experience of men who ushered in the end of the Cold War to ask how real peace can be achieved.

Could North Korea Trigger a Nuclear War? - Video Explainer

North Korea’s latest nuclear test appears to be its most powerful yet. As South Korea responds by test-firing conventional missiles, President Trump answered a question on whether the US would go to war with the reply “we’ll see”. But how did we get here? And what is driving Kim Jong-un’s military aggression?

What If Nuclear War Starts Tomorrow?

The Trump Administration is sending mixed message on how it plans to deal with the North Korean Threat, while North Korea says it is ready to strike Guam at any moment. RT America’s Joe Ricci talks about different scenarios if the war starts tomorrow.

Trump Threatens North Korea with ‘Fire and Fury’

Donald Trump has threatened North Korea ‘with fire and the fury like the world has never seen’ if the rogue state makes any more threats to the US. The president’s comments come on the day that fresh evidence emerged that Pyongyang has overcome one of the last major technical obstacles to being able to hit the US or western Europe with nuclear-armed missiles

Read the Guardian article here

War with North Korea: ‘Massive Annihilation Like We Have Never Seen’ – Former CIA Agent

The Pentagon is reporting highly unusual activity near the coast of North Korea, where it detected an ejection test from a North Korean submarine. RT America’s Manila Chan reports on the mounting threat from North Korea and the US reaction. Then Jack Rice, former CIA agent, joins to offer his perspective on the US response and the potential outcomes of a second Korean war.

Could North Korea Trigger a Nuclear War?

After successfully test-firing a rocket at the weekend, North Korea now claims to have a missile with a warhead that could reach the United States.

Chomsky: Like Obama, Trump Is Radically Increasing the Danger of Nuclear War

On Monday night, Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman spoke to world-renowned linguist and dissident Noam Chomsky at the First Parish Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During the conversation, Amy Goodman asked Chomsky about one of the most serious threats to the survival of the human species: nuclear weapons.

Deadly Game: Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un Risk Nuclear War

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: With prospects growing that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un could soon have long-range nuclear missiles at his disposal, Donald Trump is threatening a military response. Suddenly nuclear war seems possible, but how great is the threat of escalation?

Rehearsals for the apocalypse have long been underway. Every two months, always in the early afternoon, the sirens begin wailing in Seoul. Cars and buses come to a halt, civil defense officials take up their positions at busy intersections and volunteers wearing yellow armbands guide pedestrians into the nearest shelter, of which there are hundreds in the South Korean capital.

The army, too, is prepared. Highways between Seoul and the border at the 38th parallel are lined with watchtowers and every few kilometers, heavy, concrete barriers hang above the road. Should war break out, explosive charges would drop the barriers onto the roadway, blocking the way to attackers. Beaches on the coast are likewise outfitted with tank traps and barbed wire -- all in an effort to protect the southern half of the Korean Peninsula from the poor yet heavily armed north. » | Mathieu von Rohr, Christoph Scheuermann, Wieland Wagner and Bernhard Zand | Wednesday, April 26, 2017

The Russians Who Fear a Nuclear War with the West – BBC Newsnight

With tensions between Russia and the West heating up, Gabriel Gatehouse goes to Moscow to find out more about the Russians who fear - and are preparing for - a nuclear war with the West.

Crisis in Ukraine Could Trigger Nuclear War, Warns Gorbachev

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The former Russian leader warns that Moscow does not trust the West, and the West does not trust Moscow

Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, has warned that the world is at risk of a “nuclear war” because of the tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine.

In an interview with the German magazine Spiegel, Mr Gorbachev said that if either side lost its nerve in the current stand-off, it could lead to nuclear war, and spoke of his fears that the world “will not survive the next few years”.

“I actually see all the signs of a new Cold War,” Mr Gorbachev said. “It could all blow up at any moment if we don’t take action. The loss of confidence is catastrophic. Moscow does not believe the West, and the West does not believe Moscow.” » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Sunday, January 11, 2015

China and US Make North Korea Nuclear Pledge
BBC: China and the US have vowed to work together to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear programme and to settle tensions through dialogue.

A Chinese statement issued during a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry said the nuclear issue was the "shared responsibility of all parties".

Mr Kerry said the two sides must decide "very quickly" how to proceed.

North Korea has recently threatened nuclear attacks, and is feared to be preparing a missile launch.

A flurry of warlike statements from Pyongyang has prompted speculation that a launch could happen on 15 April, when the country marks the 101st birthday of the nation's founder and former leader, Kim Il-sung. (+ BBC video) » | Saturday, April 13, 2013

North Korea: We Can't Keep You Safe, Pyongyang Tells Foreign Embassies
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: North Korea has taken a further step to prepare for possible conflict, telling foreign embassies that their safety could not be guaranteed in the event of war.

The foreign ministry on Friday gave ambassadors in Pyongyang until Wednesday to say if they needed help with closing their missions and evacuating staff.

Britain responded by saying there was "no immediate" plan to shut its embassy in North Korea.

The significance of next Wednesday is unclear, although it has also been mentioned as a date for the possible closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a facility inside the North where South Korean companies employ 53,000 people.

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, has sparked a regional crisis by testing a nuclear weapon and then revoking the armistice with South Korea and threatening immediate attack. » | Malcolm Moore, Beijing, Julian Ryall in Tokyo and David Blair | Friday, April 05, 2013

North Korea Ramps Up Nuclear Rhetoric As UN Vote Looms
BBC: North Korea has ramped up rhetoric ahead of a UN vote on sanctions in response to its nuclear test.

Accusing the US of pushing to start a war, it vowed to exercise its right to launch a pre-emptive nuclear attack against its aggressors.

The Security Council meets later today to approve fresh sanctions against Pyongyang over the 12 February test.

Earlier this week, North Korea also threatened to scrap the 60-year truce which ended the Korean War.

"As long as the United States is willing to spark nuclear war our forces will exercise their right to a pre-emptive nuclear strike," said North Korea's foreign ministry, in a statement carried by the KCNA news agency, without giving further details.

The BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul says most analysts believe Pyongyang is unlikely to start a war with the US, and may instead be trying to provoke a fresh stance from Washington ahead of the UN vote.

But the atmosphere on the Korean Peninsula is more tense than usual, our correspondent adds, after North Korea said that it would tear up the armistice agreement next week.

The two Koreas remain technically at war in the wake of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a formal peace treaty.

North Korea's military command said it would end that armistice on 11 March, threatening "surgical strikes" on its southern neighbour and the use of a "precision nuclear striking tool" in response to the sanctions and ongoing South Korea-US military drills. » | Thursday, March 07, 2013

North and South Korea 'On the Verge of Nuclear War'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A senior North Korean diplomat warned a meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York that "a spark of fire could set off a thermonuclear war" on the Korean Peninsula.

Pak Kil-yon, Pyongyang's vice-foreign minster, put the blame for the tense state of inter-Korean relations firmly on South Korea's conservative government and claimed the citizens of the North feel "shame" and "political terror."

Monday's speech was the first time a representative of North Korea has addressed the General Assembly since Kim Jong-un assumed power after the death of his father in December last year.

"Since taking office, the current South Korean government has caused the worst situation in North-South relations by making all inter-Korean agreements null and void," Pak said, referring to pacts with previous South Korean administrations that sought reconciliation between the two ideological enemies and an expansion of economic co-operation.

Describing relations between the two governments as in "total bankruptcy," Pak dismissed the South Korean government of Lee Myung-bak with the comment, "History will bring them to justice."

Neither the United States nor the UN escaped criticism, with Pak saying recent joint military manoeuvres between the US and South Korean troops were "reckless provocations." » | Julian Ryall in Tokyo | Tuesday, October 02, 2012