At the battle of Stirling Bridge, 11 September 1297, the movie Braveheart has William Wallace provoking the English to battle, saying "Here are Scotland's terms. Lower your flags, and march straight back to England, stopping at every home to beg forgiveness for 100 years of theft, rape, and murder. Do that and your men shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today. ... Before we let you leave, your commander must cross that field, present himself before this army, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own ass."
Putin's Nuclear Crisis - January 2025
Russia and the United States are likely to reach an agreement on a new arms control deal after the expiration of the New START Treaty and avoid the risk of nuclear weapons use during Donald Trump's presidency, experts told Sputnik. During his election campaign, US President-elect Donald Trump said the US was close to reaching a denuclearization agreement with Russia and China during his first presidential term.
US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said 04 January 2025 that the Trump administration would have "significant leverage" in potential arms control talks with Russia due to the Biden administration's initiatives to modernize the nuclear arsenal. The official added that the New START treaty, which places limits on the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads and is due to expire in February 2026, creates a crucial opportunity for negotiations.
Richard Bensel, a professor of government at Cornell University, expressed confidence that Russia and the US will be able to conclude a new arms control agreement. "I believe that the United States and Russia will agree to a new nuclear arms treaty but the negotiations will be quite complicated and, for that reason, we should not expect an agreement soon after the [New START Treaty] expiration," Bensel told Sputnik. At the same time, Bensel stressed that the new treaty will probably not be a high priority for the Trump administration because of the prevailing importance of the domestic agenda in the US. "He will have a year to do this but he may even want more time to put some distance between the treaty he will accept and the preliminary negotiations of the Biden administration," the expert added.
Similarly, Roderick Kiewiet, a professor of political science at the California Institute of Technology, assumed that both Moscow and Washington would be interested in reaching a new treaty after the New START Treaty expiration due to the high cost to both countries of maintaining their existing nuclear arsenals. "Trump has said little to nothing about it, but I believe he will want a new arms control treaty. Putin, too, I would think … New generations of these weapons are on the drawing board, but these would be even more expensive to bring on line. So I think there is a ton of money involved that both sides would prefer not to spend," Kiewiet said.
Speaking about the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons, Bensel ruled it out. "Perhaps I am too optimistic but I do not believe that Russia will use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine War," Bensel said. The expert stressed that it was "almost inconceivable" that the Ukraine conflict could result in the use of nuclear weapons.
The same opinion was echoed by Kiewiet, who expressed confidence in the continuation of efforts by Moscow and Washington to overcome existing tensions. "The thing about these weapons, which has been true since 1945, is that the thought of actually using them is, well, unthinkable. I am confident the US and ussia will continue to manage tensions," Kiewiet said.
The expert called Russian ballistic missile Oreshnik a plus for the Russian military effort at the moment in Ukraine, but doubted that it would have much direct impact on US-Russian relations.
Scott Ritter pointed out 13 Januay 2025 that Antony Blinken facilitated the Ukraine conflict because "peace with Russia was never an option, only war." Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is "a war criminal in every sense of the word," former American Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter wrote on X, commenting on Blinken’s video, in which he praised the Biden administration’s work. Ritter accused Blinken of being "singularly responsible for the deaths of more than a million people" as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.
"You took advantage of a mentally diminished president to take our nation to the brink of nuclear war with Russia, violating the Constitution's due process," the ex-intelligence officer wrote, referring to the outgoing US President Joe Biden. Ritter voiced hope that Blinken would be "investigated, charged, and found guilty of betraying" his country. "And I hope you are given the justice you so richly deserve," the ex-intelligence officer concluded.
The scale of destruction caused by the wildfires in Los Angeles in the US state of California exceeds the damage from a nuclear attack, US President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview with Newsmax on 14 January 2025. "I just saw some very classified images. And it's much worse than what you see on TV, if that's to be believed," Trump said, adding that it was "more damage than if they had been hit by a nuclear weapon." He said "I have never seen anything like this. Kilometers and kilometers of burned houses ..."
US President Donald Trump has said he hopes to hold talks with Russia and China about reducing nuclear weapons stockpiles. According to Trump, the idea of denuclearization was previously backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump made the remarks on 23 January 2025 during an address via video link to the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. Recalling talks he had with Putin ahead of the 2020 US election about denuclearization, Trump said “I can tell you that President Putin wanted to do it, he and I wanted to do it.”
“We had a good conversation with China, they would have been involved, and that would have been an unbelievable thing for the planet,” he added. Trump also pointed to the expense of keeping up America’s nuclear arsenal as a motivating factor behind the idea to limit how many weapons are deployed. “Tremendous amounts of money are being spent on nuclear, and the destructive capability is something that we don’t even want to talk about,” he said.
Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu warned that the risk of military conflict between nuclear powers has increased. Shoigu said in an interview with the TASS news agency published on "Amidst intensifying geopolitical competition, the global risk of military confrontation between major players, including nuclear powers, has increased." He stated that Western countries have launched an offensive against ideology and values in Russia and Belarus, and have not only attempted to attack with economic sanctions, but have also tried to create political instability in these two countries.
Shoigu added that this behavior of the West affects not only Russia and Belarus, but also the international situation. The Secretary of the Russian Security Council stated: "The value and status of the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and other international organizations are being degraded." He added: "Measures are being taken to undermine global efforts to prevent an arms race in space and to turn outer space into a zone of military confrontation."
Shoigu noted: "The direct goal of these measures is to weaken our country and is intended to deprive us of sovereignty and the right to develop and realize strategic interests." He clarified that Russia's nuclear umbrella also includes Belarus, adding: "According to the political decisions we have made, at the request of Belarus, Russia's nuclear umbrella has now been extended to our closest ally."
Russian propagandist Solovyev said 24 January 2025 : "All European and American reasoning is based on the basic model of 'Russia will not use nuclear weapons.' That's why I'm sure we will see the use of nuclear weapons. Their rhetoric, by and large, makes it an almost inevitable scenario".
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