The war of words is intensifying between the two largest military powers in Europe, Russia and NATO.
Putin and several of his closest supporters in the Kremlin have repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons if the war escalates, and Nato is drawn even more actively into the Ukrainian side, according to Reuters.
The US warns Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to shoot down Ukrainian F-16 jets when he visited an air force base in Tver. Photo: Sergei Karpukhin / Sputnik / AP / NTB Photo: NTB
The threats have intensified every time there has been a question of giving Ukraine more effective weapons, but Russia has so far not taken the threats seriously.
On the other hand, they have intensified the terrorist bombing against civilian infrastructure that affects millions of the Ukrainian population.
Read all about the war in Ukraine here
There have been no corresponding counter-threats from the US side, knowing that the US has the capacity to attack with nuclear weapons.
Can light the spark for a new great war
President Joe Biden has been content to say “Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it” when directly confronted with Putin’s nuclear threats. It is beyond doubt whether the US would be passive if Russia’s nuclear weapons are activated.
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There are still many thresholds and red lines that must probably be crossed before Putin’s nuclear suitcase is opened. Should he get serious about shooting down F-16 aircraft, which Norway has also sent to Ukraine, on NATO territory, it could ignite the spark of a much bigger war than the one currently raging on Ukrainian soil.
Video: Hit Russian missile with machine gun
– If Putin wants a war with NATO, this is how you start it
– If Putin wants a war with NATO, this is how you start it. Then there will be a third world war, says Lieutenant Colonel Joakim Paasikivi at the Stockholm Defense Academy, to the Swedish news agency TT, writes the Finnish Hufvudstadsbladet.
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Paasikivi has worked most of his professional life within the Armed Forces, both at Headquarters and at the military intelligence and security service (Must). He also has many years of experience in foreign service.
– It’s not particularly smart
F-16 fighters during training in Taiwan. Photo: NTB
He believes that Vladimir Putin is playing with fire when he openly threatens NATO countries with attacks against fighter planes that are in NATO airspace, and that such an action will most likely mean the start of a new major war.
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– They feel compelled to try to intimidate the West into obedience. It’s not particularly smart. Russia knows that it would not win a war against NATO. Attacking air bases on NATO land would not be very smart. At the same time, there are no guarantees for anything, adds Paasikivi.
Putin: – F-16 aircraft can carry nuclear weapons
When Putin made the dire warning, he emphasized that the F-16 can carry nuclear weapons. He believed that the planes were legitimate Russian targets when they are intended to be used in combat against Russian forces, although Ukraine has primarily said that it will use the planes to gain control of its own airspace, which Russian planes violate every single day.
– F-16 aircraft can carry nuclear weapons. And we must include that in our planning, Putin told pilots from the Russian Air Force, according to the state-run Russian news agency Tass.
Video: Putin is compared to a Disney villain
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– We cannot trust Russia
Lieutenant Colonel Joakim Paasikivi interprets Putin’s latest saber rattling as another element in the Russian narrative that the West threatens Russia, even though Putin started the war against Ukraine.
– Russia has started the biggest war in Europe since the Second World War, and they are running it mercilessly, completely without following the laws of war. We cannot trust Russia, states Paasikivi.
The Swedish military expert has roots from Estonia, Finland and Sweden. The mother came with a small boat as a refugee from Estonia in 1944, writes Försvarshögskolan.
The great-grandfather, Juho Kusti Paasikivi, was Finland’s president in the first ten years of the post-war era. The grandfather died at the front during the Continuation War.
