Hours after a Russian missile struck a grocery store in a Ukrainian village killing 51 civilians, Vladimir Putin gave a speech at an annual event hosted by the Valdai think tank. The talks took place in the Black sea resort of Sochi and during his speech, the Russian President made no comments about this attack.
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Instead, he addressed nuclear testing, and whether or not Russia would start again after a period of over 30 years. Putin stated that there was no need to alter Russia’s nuclear doctrine, as any attack on the country would see a very swift and deadly response. Putin explained that Russia would fight back with hundreds of nuclear missiles that no enemy would survive.
Calls for Putin to start nuclear testing
Several key figures have urged Putin to start nuclear testing again, and be prepared to carry out a nuclear attack. This summer, Andrey Gurulev, a pro-Kremlin MP and Vladimir Solovyov, a fellow Russian mouthpiece, agreed the perfect spot and time for nuclear attacks. Margarita Simonjan, editor-in-chief of Russia Today, recently suggested that Russia should denote a hydrogen bomb somewhere over Siberia in eastern Russia.
Putin addressed this viewpoint in his speech:
I hear calls to start testing nuclear weapons, to return to testing.
I'm not ready to say whether we should do it or not, but it is theoretically possible to act the same way as the USA.
He explained that Russia, if targeted, would retaliate with deadly consequences: ‘In the event of an attack on Russia, no one will survive’.
Russia and the USA
Putin noted in his speech that the United States have signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty but not ratified it, while Russia has both signed and ratified. This means that the US has not formally approved or officially agreed to abide by its terms. Meanwhile, Russia has accepted and committed to the treaty's rules.
Putin explained:
But this is a question for the deputies of the State Duma (lower house of parliament). Theoretically, it is possible to withdraw this ratification. That would be enough.
There were 50 years between 1945 - when the US dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bombs over Nagasaki and Hiroshima - and the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. Within this period, more than 2,000 nuclear tests were carried out. According to the United Nations, 1,032 of these were executed by the US and 715 of them by the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union’s last test dates back to 1990, while America’s last was later: in 1992.
It is thought that Russia could resume testing to send a message that the country’s patience is wearing thinas Western countries continue to support Ukraine.
Putin has said that the West seems ‘to have completely forgotten that there are such concepts as reasonable self-restraint, compromises, willingness to give in to something in order to achieve an acceptable result for everyone’:
They are literally obsessed with only one thing - to push their interests at any cost. If that's their choice, let's see what comes of it.
Read more:
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Sources used:
Reuters: Putin holds out possibility that Russia could resume nuclear testing
Dagens: Putin issues chilling warning to the World following horrific attack in Ukraine
